Heart of Gold
by Lady of the Lost and Found
Summary: Warren Peace graduated from Sky High but has no idea of what he wants to do with his life. When he gets a chance to partake in the Herolympics his life takes an unexpected turn and he discovers if he has what it takes to be a true hero...[ON HOLD]
1. Prologue

**Greetings all!**

**I couldn't put it off any longer. I've been wrestling with this story idea for eight months now and I've finally given in. My other Sky High fic is going to be discontinued because the storyline in it is parallel to this one...but I like this one better. **

**Yes this story focuses around Warren Peace and an OC female character and no this is not a relationship story...well not in the way you would think. I don't know about you but something tells me that Warren and Morgan would never hook up in that way. You'll see what I mean in a minute. **

**I'm trying something new with this piece and I don't know whether or not it'll fly or plummet like a stone. It's not your typical superhero action/commotion bit. All I know is that if I don't get this piece written Morgan is liable to come out of the realm of my mind and chase me from here to doomsday. And she'd do it to. **

**So think more along the lines of Spiderman instead of Superman. More internal struggle than fist meets face. **

**Sidenote: This is the revised edition of the prologue.**

**Happy reading!**

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The thing about superheroes that sets us apart from everyone else is the fact that we are expected to live forever. No one can live forever. But to the average person heroes just don't seem to go anywhere. We're always there, timeless, and with greater expectations put on our shoulders than most people realize. The good guys are always there to beat the bad guys and no matter what happens, we always seem to make it out alive in order to fight the good fight another day.

That's what people thought four thousand years ago and that's what people think today. Heroes live forever.

We don't.

Last night my partner died.

She did it to save me, again.

When I was younger, I honestly thought that nothing in the world could stop me from doing what I wanted to do. Sure, I had my problems just like everyone else and I'll be the first to admit that the fact that I had more attitude than most of the human population combined never helped matters, but would you expect anything less from a teenager?

Didn't think so.

I'll be honest with you. I usually don't do this kind of thing. I'm not much of a people person, never was and never will be, and I am defiantly not a storyteller. I just thought that I'd let you know.

Why am I doing this then? Well, it's simple. I don't have much of a choice. It's not everyday that someone walks into your life out of the blue and gives you a swift kick to the head in order to knock some sense into you. I still have the mark to prove it.

When I was eighteen, I couldn't have cared less about anything. But now that I'm thirty-five and have experienced what I'm about to tell you first hand, I finally see what I never thought I could.

And all because of a horse.

Yeah, a horse.

Relax, this isn't _Seabiscuit_. I never would have thought that I'd end up getting a reality check by a horse either, but it happened. Don't ask me how, I still don't know. But if it hadn't been for her, someone who was more horse than human, I probably wouldn't have turned out to be the person I am and I defiantly wouldn't be here right now telling you this.

Her name was Morgan Nelson. I called her Horse. She called me Pinhead. But to the world, she was Heart of Gold.

And she was, she really was.


	2. Part 1 Undetermined Future

**Hola Sportsfans,**

**First off I would like to give my sincere thanks to aspinminder, Tigger and Marinus. You're reviews made me get up at 5 am and write this next chapter. Aspinminder, your review was the most helpful one that I've ever recieved so thank you very very much. I've never written an entire story from the first person point of view so this is all new to me. I agree with the prologue being long-winded. I'll re-write it later when I get Old Warren's voice memorized in my head. **

**I'm glad you guys enjoy the story. If there is anything wrong with this chapter please let me know. Like I said, I've never written from a first person pov before so I'm prepared for some bumps in the road. Any advice is greatly appreciated.**

**Happy Reading.**

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People always thought that I'd amount to nothing. And I guess a part of me kind of accepted it in a way. After what happened in my junior year at Sky High though, I started to see things a little different.

The defeat of Royal Pain brought about a whole new era at the school. For the first time in a long time I actually had friends. Yep, the big bad Warren Peace had friends. Sidekicks at the school started to get treated with more respect by the rest of the student body and Ethan never had his head dunked in a toilet bowl since. For once life was pretty good.

And then I graduated.

No more classes, no more essays, no more hallways jammed pack with chattering overly-hormonal teenagers. I should have been beyond ecstatic.

I wasn't.

The idea of working as a busboy for the rest of my days wasn't exactly appealing and neither was working in a box cubical, typing away at a computer from nine to five. My mother thought that I should go to college and get a degree in something, anything, just so that she could sleep easy at night with the idea that I wasn't going to fall off the good-guy bandwagon and become a harden criminal like my dad.

I could have gone to the state college but I knew that the whole education scene wasn't for me. I wanted to do something that I would enjoy doing and sitting in a lecture hall day after day wasn't it.

Will and I were hanging out at his house on the first Saturday that I had off work in a few months. He and Layla had just come to blows again about something concerning the year's home-coming dance. I was pretending to pay attention like the good friend I was while Will paced left and right, greatly stressed out about Layla's cold shoulder towards him. Oh the drama.

"What should I do? I don't know why matching outfits are such a big deal to her. What's wrong with red, white and blue?" he asked.

I couldn't help but shake my head. "Nothing."

"Then why is she acting like I told her to eat meat or something?" The guy was clearly torn over this and when he leaned back against his bench-press and began to pump 600 pounds of iron at a pace that would have killed the Terminator; I knew I had to say something.

"Why don't you ask her?"

"Ask her? Warren, she's mad at me. There is no asking. There is only doing. I have to do the right thing or else there is no Us."

"Well maybe Layla just isn't into the whole stars and stripes look. Maybe you should try floral prints or green." I suggested. Big mistake.

"Floral what! Warren, I'm a Stronghold. My parents are Strongholds. My grandfather was a Stronghold. Our family colours are red, white and blue. There is no green. There never was and never will be." Will slammed the weights back onto their supports with a little too much effort and cursed loudly when the iron rod that connected them cracked in half.

"Then I suggest you start looking for another girlfriend." I went back to reading the Spiderman comic that I was holding and ignored Will's seething glare. The guy should have known by now that when it comes to giving someone the evil eye, no one could do it better than I could. It's a proven fact.

"She wouldn't dump me because I won't wear green." He muttered more to himself than to me as he took out a spare rod that he had buried away in the back of his closet and went about repairing the damage.

"No. She'd dump you because you're a chauvinistic pig-headed male who won't compromise." I smiled sarcastically. "She called me this morning."

"She thinks I'm pig-headed?" Will said crushed. He dropped the 50 pound weight he had been holding and sat down hard on the bench, looking about as forlorn as a guy could get. "What do I do?"

I sighed quietly to myself as I closed the comic book carefully and placed it on the bed beside me. "Look," I started off. "I've never been in a working relationship like the one you two have so don't expect me to have all the answers. But from what I've heard, I think you should let Layla win this one. I don't know what it is with girls and school dances, but for some reason they tend to take these things really seriously. If you guys want to do the whole matching couples thing, then go ahead. But I'm telling you now, go with green. You'll be happier in the long run."

Will looked as if he was about to argue with me but when I arched an eyebrow, he sighed again and nodded his head. "But where am I going to get a green suit? I don't even look good in green." He complained softly.

"Ask Zach. The kid has a notorious taste in formal wear. I'm sure he can hook you up." I quickly ducked out of the way as Will tossed a dog-eared copy of _IronMan: The Biography_ at my head. "Watch the comic!"

And that's how things went. For some weird reason whenever something happened, Will and company would always ask me for advice, as if I were some great all-knowing guru or something. Once upon a time, these guys were scared to death of me. Now, they call me up at four in the morning and ask me to solve their relationship problems. I swear sometimes I think I had Doctor Phil written on my forehead.

"So." Will started after he finally managed to get his bench-press back in working order. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing." I shrugged as I went back to reading the comic.

Will gnawed on his lower lip as he glanced nonchalantly over his shoulder before scratching the back of his neck. I pretended that I didn't notice as he drummed his hands on his knees and fidgeted. He always did that when he had something to say but didn't have the nerve to spit it out.

"What." I muttered.

"Ah…well…I was talking to my dad and he had this idea that I thought that you'd like." He shrugged but I could tell that he was hiding something.

"For the last time Will, my answer is no. I'm not going into real estate." I growled and lifted the comic book so that it blocked Will out of my line of vision.

"Huh? Oh…oh! No, I wasn't talking about that." Will chuckled nervously. "It's something else completely. I think you'd really like to hear this one out."

"Will, I appreciate what you and your parents are trying to do but just stop okay? I'll figure out what I want to do with my life on my own terms." For the past three months, Will, the gang, my mother and Will's parents had been coming at me from all different directions in an attempt to get me to make a decision on how I'm going to spend the rest of my life. Some of the suggestions were pretty bizarre. Will's father suggested that I join the Marines while Layla said that I'd be perfect for Green Peace. Zach spent two weeks trying to convince me to become a professional wrestler under the surname Hell Blazer while Magenta thought I should go Vegas and set Chris Angel's hair on fire.

After a while it started to get on my nerves and when I lost it at Thanksgiving and torched Josie Stronghold's sixteen pound turkey that took her about seven hours to cook, no one has had the nerve to make a suggestion since.

What none of them realized that secretly, I wanted to join the hero ranks. When I was young, I mean really young, I'd always listen to my mother's stories about the battles she fought and the stuff she did. Sometimes when I was alone I'd pretend that I was a superhero off saving the world. I was nine. What nine-year-old doesn't pretend to be Superman or Wonder Woman?

The thing is, in order to become an official superhero you needed a hero license and no one was going to give me, Warren Peace, the son of the notorious Barron Battle, a hero license. Villains' kids don't get to become heroes. People tended to overlook the fact that my mother was a successful hero. Instead all they ever saw was a problematic prodigy that would do more harm then good, so they left it at that.

Most of them anyways.

Becoming a hero isn't easy. It is not like the moment you graduate from hero school you instantly become a superhero. Most of the kids who leave Sky High end up going inactive and becoming civilians. Only the lucky ones, the certain handful, manage to get accepted into the various hero leagues and go off to save the world. Sometimes a sidekick will end up being promoted to hero status after a number of years, but most of the time sidekicks end up retiring when they are no longer needed and become teachers or community activists. That's what happened to Mr. Boy, formally known as All-American Boy.

"Warren, will you just hear me out on this one. Please? Just this once and I won't bother you again about this. I swear." Will said not so easily dissuaded.

"No Will."

"Fine. If you won't listen to me then maybe you'll listen to my dad. Either way, you're going to hear it." Will said and nodded his head in the direction of his bedroom doorway.

When Steve Stronghold entered the room and I had to restrain myself from setting Will's bed on fire. I hated it when people ganged up on me like that but burning down the house wasn't going to get me anywhere. I made a mental promise that I'd get even with Will later just as Steve cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

"Hello Warren." He beamed cheerfully as I slowly lowered the comic and glared at the both of them. Will gave me a weak smile and looked away. Instead of responding, I just nodded my head once.

"So, did Will tell you our idea?" He asked as he looked at Will and then back at me. When neither of us said anything, he got the hint. "Ah, I see. Well then, Will mentioned to me a few days ago that you were interested in obtaining a hero license."

My eyes went wide in surprise as Will weakly shrugged his shoulders and busied himself with his hands. How did he know that? How did they find out! I've never said a word about the license to anyone. _Ever_.

Steve Stronghold resisted the urge to smile when he saw my reaction and before I could put up a defensive wall and make my face unreadable; he stepped forward and sat down on the edge of the bed. I didn't move.

"So I'm right?" He asked me quietly as I glared at his son.

"How did you figure that one out?" My voice as hard as I could make it.

"Warren, you've spent every day for the past three years reading comic books. It was kind of obvious." Will spoke up as he got up and sat down at his computer desk in an attempt to put some distance between us. As if that would help him.

"So what about it? It's not like I'm ever going to get one so can we drop it?" I said as I roughly turned the page of the comic book and pretended to read it so that I wouldn't have to look at either of them. Steve Stronghold took a piece of paper out of his back pocket and unfolded it before he slipped it over the page that I was trying to concentrate on.

"You never know if you don't try." Was all he said.

I knew what they were doing and I wasn't buying it but despite my self, I had to look at the paper. It was a laminated promotional flyer that had the pictures of some of the best known heroes on it. Will's mother and father were flanking the dark empty outline of a person in the middle of the page. A big question mark and the words "Could this be you" caught my attention before I looked at the rest of the flyer.

"What is this?" I asked as I watched Will's father out of the corner of my eye.

"The International League of Heroes just sent this out all over the world today. It's the application form for the Herolympics." Steve said as he reached over and turned the flyer over so that I could see the rules and regulations printed on the back.

"The Herolympics." I repeated doubtfully. "You want me to take part in the Herolympics."

"Why not? You have just a good a chance as anyone to getting in. And would it really hurt just to try?" Will's father asked as he leaned back and Will a secretive wink.

"My dad's going to be a part of the panel of judges this year and he can put in a good word for you with the registration committee. C'mon Warren, this is the chance you've been waiting for. It only happens once every four years and if you look at the bottom of the page, it says that the top 6 competitors get an instant acceptance into a league of their choice! What more could you want?" Will said, his excitement finally coming out as he hopped off his desk and waved his arms around for emphasis.

"Instant acceptance?" I asked cautiously as I took my eyes off of Will for a second to read the fine print.

"To any of the leagues. The Elemental League, the North American League, hell even the Justice League! Think of it Warren, the Justice League! No one's ever gotten into it like this before." Will said in a wistful voice as he eyed the flyer.

"Will's right. This is the first year that the Justice League has decided to allow two new members to join their ranks. They made a public announcement about it this morning. It seems that the entire hero community is talking about nothing else." Steve nodded.

"It won't work." I said after a few minutes. Will blinked and looked at me as if he hadn't heard me correctly.

"What? Why not!" Will asked.

"You have to be at least 18 to apply." I started off and before I could continue Will cut me off.

"Warren, you turned 18 last May." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know that. I'm saying you have to be 18 and older to apply and," I paused for a second to give him a look, "it has to be two people per application. Which means I need to have a sidekick. Do I have a sidekick?"

"One of us can sub for it. Zack would die of a heart attack if he found out." Will grinned, thinking that he had the perfect solution. When he realized that both myself and his father were looking at him he stopped grinning. "What?"

I held up the flyer and pointed to Rule 3, 18 years or older.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. You guys are still sixteen." I dropped the flyer onto the bed. "No sidekick means that there is no way that I'm ever going to get into the competition. Thanks for trying, but no thanks." I went back to reading the comic book as Will curled his hands into tight fists.

"You're hopeless!" He hissed and left the room before he punched a hole in the wall. I waited for Will's father to leave after his son but when he didn't, I ground my teeth together and closed the comic book.

"Steve…Mr. Stronghold, I don't need your help. I appreciate everything that you're trying to do for me but it won't work. Why can't you people see that and just leave me alone about all this. You're not my father so can you stop trying to act like it?" I said as I turned my head to look at him. Whatever I was going to say next died on my tongue as I realized that I was no longer talking to Steve Stronghold, Will's father, but to the Commander. The look he gave me was enough to make me think twice about what I had just said.

"I'm going to be frank with you Warren. You have a lot of talent and potential and I know you can go far if you tried. But you'd be an idiot if you let an opportunity like this pass you by. And right now, you are acting like one. You don't want my help, fine. I respect that. A man has to make his own way in the world. But you will listen to my advice. I know what you're thinking and I'm not here to judge you. I've kept my eye on you ever since you became friends with my son and you are nothing like your father. I knew your father, I was the one who had him put away and believe me when I tell you that whatever shadow you're living under, it's not yours but his. And it's time for you to stop. What are you afraid of Warren? Are you afraid that if you try to make something of yourself, you'll be rejected? That you'll fail? That you'll end up being like your father?"

I didn't look away once as he spoke, I didn't even blink. But when he mentioned my father the comic book in my hand was reduced to ash in two seconds flat.

"You don't know what you're talking about." My teeth were clenched so hard that my jaw was starting to ache.

"I don't?"

"You don't know what it's like to have your father's reputation follow you wherever you go, to influence whatever you do. You have no idea of how it feels to not be able to escape something that you never did and to have people judge you because of it." I managed to growl without igniting my fist and destroying something else. I never talked about this and I didn't want to start talking now.

"You're wrong about that Warren. I know exactly how it feels, and so does Will. With my father being who he was I never had much of a choice of what I wanted to do with my life and I know Will feels the same way. But that doesn't mean we stop trying." Steve said in a dead even tone that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

"They'll never allow me into the competition." I said flatly as I kept my eyes locked with his. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting him know how he managed to affect me. I kept repeating to myself that this was the guy who was the reason that I never knew my father over and over in my head and it gave me enough anger to keep up the defensive front.

"You have my word that your application will be judged fairly and won't be tainted by outside influences. The competition is not based on who your family is or where you come from. It's based solely on who you are and if you have what it takes to get into it, you will." Will's father met my resistance with his own and if you've ever been stared down by the Commander, you'll know just how hard it is to keep focused without cracking from the pressure.

"And the sidekick?" I shot at him. It was pathetic but it was my last edge I had on him and I had to use it. I never go down without a fight.

"I've arranged an all-day meeting for you at the Hero Support Agency tomorrow. Will and I will be there to help you with the interviews and trials. If you do not show up tomorrow I will personally find you and drag you down there myself. You have my word on that." Steve said his stare hardening slightly so that I got the point that he was dead serious. At that moment I had no doubt that he'd go through with his promise.

"You may not get accepted into the competition Warren but I will not let you pass up this opportunity. If becoming a hero is what you want, then it's about time you got serious and started acting like one. Do you understand me?" He asked me and after a few tense, silent moments I knew that he had me. I didn't have a choice.

I was the first to break off the stare and when I looked away, Will's father eased up and became Steve Stronghold once more.

"What time do I have to be there." I muttered without looking up.

When Steve put his hand on my shoulder I tensed, that threatened feeling creeping back into my mind. What I didn't expect was the fatherly embrace that came out of nowhere. Despite my hostility and anger, something deep down inside came loose and for once I knew what it felt like to have a father figure.

"9 o'clock sharp. It's going to be one heck of a busy day so rest up tonight. Every sidekick out there is going to be trying to team up with a hero for the competition so I have no doubt that we'll find the right one. Just as long as you remember to keep your temper and not burn down the building." Steve chuckled and patted me on the back before he walked out of the room, leaving me alone to figure out what the heck just happened.

I nervously ran my hands through my hair as I sat down on the bed and breathed in deeply, trying to wrap my head around the jumbled emotions that were bouncing around inside me. I glanced at the flyer and looked it over carefully. For the first time, I could kind of see myself standing between The Commander and Jetstream.


	3. Chapter 2

**Greetings everyone.**

**I hope I managed to do this chapter justice. There were so many sidekicks and not enough room to write them all in. Also I don't know about you guys but this first person point of view is really sending me through the wringer. I rewrote the part where Morgan and Warren meet six times already and I still twitch every time I read it. Who knew that writing about a horse in first person would be so difficult? Not me that's for sure. **

**Once again I send out my sincere thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I won't lie. Every bit of criticism you give me goes a very long way. Thanks a million folks. **

**Oh and before I forget. I played on aspin's advice and edited the prologue. It's shorter but I think it works. Tell me what you think.**

**Also here's a tid-bit of information that I just discovered. On the Sky High soundtrack Steven Strait aka Warren Peace is the one who sings "One thing leads to another." I've listened to this thing a hundred times over and only now has it hit me that that's his voice. **

**Happy Reading.**

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That night I could barely sleep. Part of me couldn't believe that I actually had a shot at a achieving the one thing that I've always wanted to do. I spent the entire night brooding over the idea that this was all just some hoax. I wouldn't let myself get my hopes up because I knew that even if I did manage to find a sidekick, there was no way that I'd actually make it into the Herolympics. It was just too good to be true.

I wasn't immune to disappointment. Having been surrounded by it for a good part of my life there was one thing that I had learned and it was to always expect the worst. That way when things didn't turn out I could always fall back on the I-told-you-so mentality. It made dealing with reality a little easier.

I left my house at seven that morning. It was a Sunday and I made sure to leave as quietly as possible so that I wouldn't wake my mother up. The last thing I needed right then was for my mother to give me an encouragement speech. I didn't want her to expect the impossible in case things didn't fall through. I hated to see her get upset over me so I figured that it would be better this way.

Which was why I also never told her where I was going in the first place.

I arrived at the Agency at a quarter past eight. I had spent the better part of the past hour driving around Maxville, thinking things over and mentally preparing myself for one hell of a stressful day. When I finally pulled into the parking lot I couldn't believe the number of cars that were already there, never mind the huge line of anxious sidekicks that were lined-up outside the entrance doors.

"Oh man." I muttered to myself as I slowly eyed the line-up. The line wrapped round the building with more sidekicks arriving by the minute. It was quite obvious that it was going to be a very long day.

After finding a parking spot at the farthest corner of the lot, I waited by my car for Will and his father to arrive. You couldn't imagine how badly I wanted to just drive off and not look back. I could feel the eyes of various sidekicks staring at me as I did my damn best to appear bored by it all. Thankfully it worked because none of them came up to me to ask me why I was there.

"Warren you came!"

I looked up just as Layla came running towards me with a mega-watt smile on her face. Behind her Will grinned and waved at me while his father stopped to talk to a guy that looked like an older version of Coach Boomer.

"I said I would didn't I?" Came my short reply.

"Isn't this exciting? Look at all the people. I never knew that this many would show up. We'll find you a sidekick for sure. I can feel it." Layla beamed as she gave me an awkward one-armed hug.

I'm not a morning person by nature but I let Layla get away with the hug because her positive vibe made it easier for me to deal with my rising anxiety level. Maybe it was her abnormal cheerfulness that did it, but whatever it was the idea of roasting something had suddenly become less appealing. I counted it as a good sign.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her as I glanced at Will. "I thought that you and Will weren't talking to each other."

"Well Will and I managed to sort out our differences." She said with a small, nervous giggle.

"Ah, so did you use poison ivy or was it the rose bushes this time?" My knowing look made her turn an interesting shade of scarlet.

Will rolled his eyes as he handed me a coffee that he had picked up on the way and put his arm around Layla.

"Funny Warren. You know you wouldn't believe how many different shades of green there are. We figured that if we're going to be this year's homecoming King and Queen, I might as well let Layla choose the outfits. For some reason girls are better at clothes shopping than we are." He shrugged before giving me a look of thanks.

"Right." I peeled back the plastic cover of the paper coffee cup and took a sip. Black with three sugars. It looked like my advice paid off after all. "Thanks for the coffee."

"I made Will bring me along. You're going to need a female perspective in choosing a sidekick and I want to make sure these two don't end up convincing you to go along with whatever they say. A girl sidekick is just as good as any guy and I hope that you both remember it." Layla nudged her boyfriend sharply in the ribs as he sighed, having heard this statement three times already.

"With you here to remind us, how could we forget?" Steve Stronghold said as he came up behind the two and clapped them both on their shoulders. Layla jumped slightly in surprise as Will grinned from ear to ear and ducked under his father's arm before he jabbed him playfully in the shoulder.

"So are we going in?" Will asked as he danced out of his father's reach when Steve tried to grab him in a head-lock. Layla scooted to my left as the two Strongholds started to wrestle each other in the middle of the parking lot and I caught her looking at me with an uncertain expression on her face that I ignored as I downed half the coffee in one go.

"Let's get this over with before I change my mind." I coughed when some of the piping hot java scorched the roof of my mouth. "Those sidekicks look like they'd be more than willing to take a piece out of me in order to prove themselves."

"Hero support Warren, not sidekicks." Layla was quick to remind me.

"Whatever."

Great, now I was going to have to deal with a scorched tongue as well as a hundred and one sidekick wannabes. Could this day get any better?

Oh yeah.

Let's just say that if I had brought along a bottle of scotch it would have been empty before lunch.

After we got ourselves settled in an interviewing room, Steve Stronghold went out and herded in the first bunch of sidekicks. The first eight didn't even make it past the door before they got dragged out by staff security for being underage. The next five didn't even make it to the door before they were stopped for being over the age-limit. Twenty

minutes later the first potential candidate took a seat in front of us and ran screaming from the room once she realize who I was.

I was not amused.

"Maybe we should tell them who you are after we have all their information?" Will suggested as Layla poured a glass of water from the water cooler that sat in the corner and handed it to me. The water evaporated before I could even take a sip.

As I said, I was not amused.

"Here's one that looks interesting." Steve Stronghold said as he beckoned a sidekick to enter the room. Will and I exchanged a look as she walked into the room and sat down in the chair across the table. She was wearing a tight pink spandex suit with the female symbol embossed on her chest in flaming pink.

"Your name?" Steve asked as I sat back and tried not to smirk.

"Lisa Gibbons."

"Age?"

"19."

"And what alias do you go by?" Steve asked as he picked up his half-empty glass of water and adjusted his glasses.

"People know me as Catty H. ManHater, ManHater for short."

Will's father choked on the water he was drinking and ended up drenching the front of his shirt as Layla stifled a laugh. I had to bite my own tongue so that I wouldn't start snickering and Will looked utterly stunned as the girl nailed him with a glare filled with feminine angst.

"Excuse…me." Steve chortled as he put down the glass and adjusted his shirt collar. Lisa glared at him and said nothing. "So…Lisa, what do you do?" He asked.

"I stand up for women's rights and fight against male oppression."

"Um…what I meant was, what do you do? What are your powers?" Steve asked her as I lowered my head so that ManHater wouldn't see me grinning. I'm sorry but it was just too funny.

"Whenever I start ranting, men run. They can't stand the sound of my voice. But it only works on men." She seemed to be really pleased with herself when she said that. Not even the mighty Steve Stronghold could keep a straight face after that.

"Really? That's…interesting." Steve snickered as he pressed the back of his hand against his mouth in order to stifle the sound.

Big mistake.

The girl's face darkened like a storm cloud and she leapt to her feet with eyes a-blaze. Instantly Will, Steve and I went rigid in our seats as she glared at us and leaned across the desk so that she was practically face-to-face with Will's father. I had known Steve for three years and never once had I seen him shrink back from anything, but when that girl went up to him I swear he pushed his chair back. Mind you, we all did. Except Layla.

"Interesting? Is that what you think? Interesting? Well let me tell you something buster, it's more than just interesting! I've sent hordes of men like you packing with a single scream and that's something I'd like to see you try! It's men like you who belittle female pride and keep the women of this world in the shackles of the domestic realm while you…" She shrieked and the sound was like a hundred cats screeching and ten thousand rusty nails being dragged across a chalk board over and over again at the same time. My brain felt like it was being ripped out of my head through my ears.

Will and I dove under the table and clamped our hands over our ears in an attempt to block out the sound while Steve got the full blast and if it hadn't been for Layla who quickly stepped in, Will and I probably would have ran for the door. It was honestly the only logical thing to do at that time.

"Ah…wow. That was really something. Yeah, very impressive." Layla stammered as she grabbed the other girl by her arm and dragged her away from Steve, who looked about as shell-shocked as a dog that had just been beaten up by a spastic cat.

"Thank you. You won't believe how many deprived housewives have told me that." ManHater said with a smile as Layla opened the door and ushered her out of the room.

"Is it safe to come out yet?" Will asked quietly as he shook his head like a dog in an attempt to stop his ears from ringing.

"I think so." I checked to make sure that the coast was clear.

"Dad, are you okay?" Will asked as he peeked over the table top before scrambling to his feet.

Will's father didn't say anything.

"Dad?" Will snapped his fingers in front of his father's face.

"Whatever happens we must never, ever allow that girl meet your mother." All three of us looked at one another and nodded solemnly before a collective shudder ran down our spines. Talk about scary.

"Okay, was it just me or was that a little weird?" Layla commented as she walked back into the room and shut the door behind her. "Are you guys alright?" She asked us when she saw our faces. "You didn't like her?"

"How about we all take an early lunch break?" Steve suggested as he rose stiffly to his feet and picked up his glasses that had fallen to the floor.

"Great idea dad."

"Sure thing Steve."

Will and I were out of that room before Layla could say another word.

"Well I thought she was nice." Layla said to herself before she shrugged and trailed after us.

By the time we had all finished eating and regrouped for another session of interviews, we figured that the worst was over. After all, there were not many things that could top that last interview. Boy were we wrong.

First there was Dolphin Boy.

"Hey everyone. I'm Larry, 18 years old, a recent graduate of the Sky High Hero Support program and I can talk to dolphins! _Eeek eeek eek! Sqweeeeeeeeek eek eek!_"

"Thank you Larry. That's all we need for now." Steve said politely as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh! And I am also fluent in whale! One of my specialties is the orca dialect but I can do a humpback fairly well. Would you like to hear?"

"Ahhhh…" We all looked at each other. "No. No, it's okay. We're good. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe next time."

A small flame sparked to life on the tip of my thumb as I signaled to Will that this guy was toast.

"Oh. Okay." He replied before he saw the flame. "Oh my god! You're on fire! Fire, fire! No body panic! Everyone stay calm. Fire! Fire!"

Larry ran to the cooler, yanked off the large plastic bottle and before Steve or Will could explain to him that I was a pyro and was no in danger of being roasted alive, he threw the contents of the 8 liter water jug at me. It was a pity that he didn't save any for himself.

Then there was Disco Bob.

"How's it hanging brothers? I'm Bob. People call me _Disco_ Bob. I'm 23 years but baby I look 20. And I looooooove to groove baby! Yeah!"

"Groove?" Will asked as he eyed Disco Bob's Elvis Presley style outfit, complete with fake jewels and platform boots.

"That's right. No one can beat _Disco_ Bob on the dance floor. Yeah!"

Layla politely led him out of the room as he preformed his rendition of _Stayin' Alive _for us, complete with soundtrack.

After that, there was Mrs. Robinson.

"It says here on your application that you are twenty-six years old. You do know that the cut-off age for sidekicks, I mean hero support, is twenty-five." Will's father said as he cleared his voice.

The woman was dressed in a black evening gown, complete with pearls and a fox-fur wrap and she constantly kept winking at me. Trust me, she wasn't twenty-six. She looked like she was forty-six.

"Don't pay any attention to that silly form. Half the information on it is wrong anyways." She smiled as she twirled her strand of pearls and blew me a kiss.

"Okay. Next?"

The next guy caught us completely off guard. I think his name was Cannibal.

"'Sup."

"Hello." Steve said as the guy walked into the room. He had enough chains around his neck to make Jacob Marley feel good about himself.

"'Sup."

"So, who are you?" It was a generic enough question.

"Who'm I? Who'm I? What you talkin' 'bout man? I's knows who I am. Why's everyone got ta ask me who I's is? I know man, I know who's I am. Question is man, who you? Huh? Yeah, that right. I's askin' who you?"

"Umm. I'm Will and this is Layla and…"Will stepped in.

"Shut yo mouth boy. I ain't talkin' to you!"

"Okay, let's all just calm down here for a minute." Steve said with a tight smile. The other guy shifted in his seat and gave Will's father a similar smile; the only difference was that he had enough platinum in his mouth to make him look like that Jaws guy from an old James Bond movie.

I didn't like the way he looked at my friends and I let him know it. One flick of my wrist and that smile was long gone. From then on he was going to have permanent grills welded to his teeth.

The majority of the interviews from then on continued in that fashion. Sidekick after sidekick stepped into the room and took and seat, and sidekick after sidekick was escorted out by Layla or Will. We saw everyone. There were guys in chicken suits, women covered with live canaries, kids with speech impediments, shape-shifters that ranged from geckos to giraffes, plunger wielding ninjas, roller-skating contortionists, glittering mimes, and feather-wielding ticklers. There was even one kid who specialized in sonic burping. Half of them I couldn't stand and none of them were even close to what we were looking or hoping for. By four o'clock I was at the end of my patience and everyone wanted to call it quits.

"I can't believe it. We've interviewed ninety-eight people and not one is suitable for the position. Not one! Back in my day it was never this hard to get a sidekick. I don't know what they're teaching them at that school but whatever it is it's not enough." Steve vented as he slapped a bunch of filled-out application forms onto the desk.

"It's not the schools fault Mr. Stronghold. Finding the right hero support takes time. Don't worry, we have time. I'm sure we'll find someone next time." Layla tried to be optimistic but not even her positive attitude could do anything to change the dismal gloom that hung over us.

"Ninety-eight people in seven hours. And we still have one more hour to go." Will groaned as he plunked his head onto the table top and sat there, muttering to himself. "Right now I am really hating the word time."

"Maybe we should call it a day? We can come back during the week or on Saturday. No wait, Saturday's not good. How about next Sunday?" Layla suggested as she flopped out onto the chair that was next to Will's and poked him in the side when he yawned loudly.

"I can't. Josie and I are going to be in Prague for an important meeting about the security and location of the Herolympics." Steve said as he took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose while he paced the room.

"Don't forget I have a test for mad science that's worth thirty percent of my grade. If I don't pass this thing, Medula will kick me out of the class. Coming here is not an option for me, studying is however." Will murmured as Layla began to massage his shoulders.

"I'm working so that's out of the question." I muttered as I leaned against the back wall. "Let's just forget it. We're not going to find anyone."

"No, that is not an option here!" Will's father barked in a tone that made us all snap to attention. "We will find someone even if we have to stay here all night. Everyone take a five minute break. I'm going to talk to special services to see if they have anyone else worth looking at." With that he stormed out of the room and accidentally left his glasses on the table.

"Not again." Layla sighed as she took the glasses and went out into the hall in order give them back. Every time Steve stepped out of the room without his identity concealing disguise, he was always mobbed in the halls by sidekicks and potential heroes alike. Sometimes international fame was a real pain in the ass.

"I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back." Will waved as he got up and left, leaving me alone with a pile of papers and a busted water cooler.

What was the use? There was no way that I was going to find a sidekick that didn't annoy the hell out of me or run screaming at the sight of me. The piles of papers in front of me proved that already. There was really no point in staying any longer. I knew that this would happen.

Once again, bitter disappointment set in.

"Screw it."

Without saying a word to anyone I left from the back entrance of the building in order to avoid running into Will or Layla. Behind the main building of the Agency were a few small test arenas where potential teams did a try-out run to see if they were compatible with each other. They looked like indoor riding rings or something to that effect. Throughout the day they were packed with people but now they were empty. From where I stood, even the parking lot looked empty. There was no one here. There was no one left.

"Damn it!" My foot lashed out and I kicked the wall repeatedly, cursing each time I landed a blow.

"It's not fair!"

And it wasn't. When was it ever fair for me? Not very often.

I knew that feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to do me any good or get me anywhere, but I couldn't have cared less. Once again Warren Peace got the short end of the stick. And I hated it. God, did I hate it.

"Shit." I sniffed, breathing hard as I stalked away from the main building. I didn't care where I went as long as it was as far away from that place as I could get. I hurried past the arenas as I headed towards the parking lot. There were noises coming from one of the last arenas but I didn't pay any attention to it. It was probably some lucky punk beating the whatnot out of his new sidekick in order to see how tough he was.

_SHIT!_

_GET OFF ME YA SHMUCK!_

A harsh yell and a sharp screech ripped through the empty arena area and it was soon followed by a loud commotion that I couldn't even put words to. It sounded like someone was being attacked by something and I had no idea what it was. I'd never heard sounds like that before.

"Get that thing away from me! This is insane! You're all insane! That _thing_ is beyond insane! What kind of show are you runnin' here huh? You call that a sidekick! Lunatics! I'm outta here."

A guy stormed out of the last arena, madder than hell and for good reason. He looked like he had just been mugged by a bunch of street thugs. His clothes were torn and dirty, the seat of his jeans looked like they had been ripped off and his plaid boxers were showing. Also, he was limping barefoot.

"Don't go Johnny! Just give us anotha chance! I'm beggin' ya, she's not like this." An older man chased after him. The guy looked like he had just come off the boat straight from Jamaica. Pure Rastafarian from the long dread locks to the multicolored beanie he wore on his head.

"Yeah. I'm sure she's just all peaches and cream every other day of the week. Forget it Jolly. I'm having nothing to do with you or that…that nutcase. Have fun trying to find a hero who's stupid enough to listen to you!" Johnny laughed bitterly as he threw back the doors and entered the main building, making sure to slam them as hard as he could behind him.

The Rastafarian cursed something in Jamaican before he turned around and headed back to the arena, looking every bit as angry as the other guy had.

"Morgan! What did I tell ya before! You listenin' to me? Mo-gan! Ya really done it dis time girl! There's no one else ya know. No one! Do ya know what dat means?" The man shouted as he vanished into the arena.

I knew I should have just kept on going but after seeing what I had just seen, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation. It looked like I wasn't the only one who lucked out today.

"The guy was an idiot Jolly. A moron! I'm not going to spend the rest of my days carrying a moron on my back. If I wanted a moron I would have stuck with the ape guy!" A female voice snapped back but it was deeper than any girl's voice I had ever heard before.

"It don't matter if he was a moron! Now you da moron! You a sidekick Morgan, ya need a hero. Now der no more heros! Now what are we gonna do? Ya want to tell me what we're gonna do?" Jolly answered back.

"I say we kidnap some unsuspecting kid and force him to do what we say or else." A different voice spoke up. This one had a hint of a Cuban accent.

"No kidnappin' anybody! How many times must I tell ya people! Dis was our only chance! Ya know what da agency people say. If we don't get a hero by the end of today, they reject da application. Morgan, ya wanna spend da rest of your life runnin' in a circle?" Jolly ranted loudly, his voice carrying out into the open loud and clear.

"Like hell I will!" The female voice that I took to be Morgan growled.

"Well ya know what girl? Ya gonna be runnin' in dem circles! And jumpin' and doin' every other damn thing I can think of! It's been two months. Two months we've been here. And ya chased off everyone! What is da matter with ya girl? If ya father was here he'd be spittin' sea snails he would!"

The arguing continued as I started to walk towards the arena. Now the third voice spoke up and all three of them seemed to be yelling each others heads off. This was none of my business. I should have just turned around and walked away. But that Jamaican had said that Morgan was a sidekick. A sidekick that needed a hero. I didn't have a clue as to who or what Morgan was but a little voice in the back of my mind kept nudging me forward, saying that it wouldn't hurt to find out. After all, I didn't have anything to loose by it. I was already down at the bottom of the barrel as far as things were concerned.

Steeling myself for what I would encounter, I cautiously stepped into the arena and when I did the arguing stopped and I found three pairs of eyes staring at me. You could have heard a pin drop in that arena. The Jamaican man turned around so that he could face me and a short Hispanic looking man that I took to be the owner of the third voice gave me a once over before he spat a wad of chewing tobacco onto the floor.

But they weren't the ones I was looking at. Standing off to the side, nervously pawing away at the dirt was a horse. A small, scruffy looking, dirt covered brown and black horse.

And that horse looked right through me.

It wasn't anything magical or mystical or any of that crap you about read in storybooks. There were no trumpets sounding, no rays of sunshine coming down from the heavens, no James Earl Jones annunciation. I was standing in a half-lit, dirt filled arena, locked in a staring contest with a nothing-special looking animal. But the way that horse looked at me made me feel as if I were standing naked in a crowded room and everyone's attention was focused directly at me.

I swallowed hard.

"What the hell are you looking at pinhead?"

Those were the first words that she ever spoke to me and I knew from that moment on, I'd never forget them.


	4. Chapter 3

**Greetings everyone.**

**Boy it's been a while since I threw up a chapter. Sorry about that. It took me a while to get over a nasty bit of writer's block and I have another story that I'm working on at the same time so it is kind of hard for me to juggle everything but I'll manage somehow. A big thanks goes out once again to all those who left me a review. Those reviews plus a lot of Hidalgo and Rocky watching have helped me to finally get this chapter written and figure out what is going to happen next. And I think I'm starting to get the hang of writing in first person. Finally! Well, enough of my yapping, here's the chapter. **

**Happy Reading.**

* * *

"Excuse me?"

I snapped back into reality at the sound of the sharp snort she gave me.

"You hard of hearing or something?"

For a second I couldn't respond. You have no idea how weird it feels to be told off by a horse. When you see a horse the first thing you think is either it's cute or it's stupid. I thought it was stupid. I'll be honest; I wasn't much of a horse person back then. To me horses were overly-expensive animals that did nothing but jump a bunch of fences or run around a track. This was also the first time that I'd ever been this close to a real horse before. I just couldn't see why some people were so fascinated by these animals.

But all that was about to change. And big time might I add.

Before I could work up a decent come-back the Rastafarian stepped between us and spoke up while he motioned to the short Cuban guy to go do something.

"Who ya be ma friend?" He asked me as he smiled and offered me his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Me? Uh, I'm Warren Peace. Why?" I said skeptically as I shook his hand. I was fully expecting him to do a 180 and step away from me once he heard my name but I was surprised when he grinned and gave me a warm pat on the back.

"Warren eh? It good ta meet ya Warren. I'm Jollymon but ya can call me Jolly. Everyone does." He laughed and flicked his long dreadlocks over his shoulders.

I just stared at him while he went on to introduce the other two. He seemed unconcerned that I was staring at him strangely and if he felt uncomfortable by it, it didn't show. Usually when I stare at people long enough, they would eventually get the message and back off. But not this guy. He just didn't seem to mind it. It just, I don't know, seemed to bounce right off him.

"Ya've already met Morgan and my friend over there is Che. He don't really say much so don't worry if he don't speak to ya." Jolly turned to look at me and lowered his voice. "Dem Cubans, they always suspicious of strangers but once he knows ya he won't stop talking now. As for Morgan…well, that girl got a mouth on her like a politician."

"I heard that." Morgan snorted as Che walked up to her and grabbed the reins that were dangling around her neck. I later found out that the thing buckled to her head was called a bridle. As I said, I didn't know a damn thing about horses.

Like Jolly, Che didn't seem to care when Morgan shot him a dirty look. Instead he just muttered something in Spanish under his breath before he jerked the reins and forced Morgan to follow him. I honestly thought that she was about to take a chunk out of him for doing that but instead she just put her ears back and lowered her head in protest.

"Ya were supposed to hear that girl. That why I said it." Jolly rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Anyways ma friend, don't let her intimidate ya. She always do that to people she don't know. Horses, they pretty thick in da head sometimes." He chuckled as he clapped his hand on my shoulder and steered me to where Che stood waiting, chewing silently on his tobacco.

"Yeah? Well we're not as thick as some people." Morgan tossed her head and pawed at the dirt again while watching my every move. Che chuckled quietly when he heard what she said and gave me a toothy grin that made his four gold capped teeth glint under the tobacco juice. I shot her my best annoyed look and we stared at each other for a few seconds while Jolly and Che looked on.

"So what can you do?" Jolly asked me, breaking the stare-off when I stopped about seven feet from Morgan. "Don't be shy ma friend, we don't bite. Most of da time."

I just looked at the three of them for a few moments while I tried to figure out what exactly was going on here before I answered. Could you tell that this was were I started to have second thoughts? Yeah, I thought so.

"I'm a pyro. I can manipulate fire."

As soon as those words left my mouth I knew that I never should have said anything. Instantly the atmosphere changed, just like that. Morgan's ears went flat against her head as Che and Jolly exchanged a look that I couldn't understand. I didn't know what the flat ears thing meant but I figured that it wasn't good and then the next thing I knew Che shoved the reins into my hands and walked away.

"Whoa." It happened so fast that it took me a second to realize that I was suddenly holding onto a horse, a talking horse that was doing something pretty funky with her ears and it kind of got me nervous.

"Can ya excuse us for a second Warren? We be right back now." Jolly said with a bright smile and hurried after Che, muttering something under his breath that I couldn't make out.

"What? But…"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just keep ya hands away from her mouth." Jolly shouted over his shoulder and before I could protest he and Che stepped out of the arena, leaving me standing beside a horse that clearly wasn't enjoying this any more than I was. Talk about awkward.

"What! Uh, great." I muttered as I looked at the reins in my hands and then at Morgan. "What?" I asked when she looked away.

"A pyro huh?" She swung her head around and I quickly move out of the way but when I didn't let go of the reins Morgan just lowered her head and continued to stare at me. "So you're a hothead as well as a pinhead. Perfect."

"And let me guess, you must be Mr. Ed." Well I thought that it was amusing, but the horse didn't seem to share my sarcasm.

"Let me ask you a question pinhead. Are you here because you want to be or because you have to be?"

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting her to ask me that.

"Let's just say that I'm here for the same reasons you are. Is that a good enough answer?" I looked around the arena to see if I could spot Jolly or Che but they still hadn't come back yet. "You know what? How about I leave now and we both forget that this ever happened?"

Morgan turned her head to the side so that she stared at me with one eye. I thought that it was weird at the time because I never knew that horses couldn't see something that was standing directly in front of them. I also realized just how big a horse's head was.

"Look no hard feelings or anything but this just isn't going to work out. You're not what I was looking for and I'm sure that I wasn't exactly what you had in mind either so…yeah." I shrugged and let go of the reins and took a cautionary step back, just in case. She didn't move so instead of standing there like an idiot, I took it as a sign that I could leave and did just that. I turned and left.

"Not what you were looking for? Tell me Warren, what exactly _are_ you looking for?" It was something in the way she said it that made me slow down. It was almost like she struck a chord in me, something that I didn't know was there until now. "You don't have a clue, do you?"

She had me there and she knew it too. Damn horse.

"Why do you care?" I didn't turn around as I stared straight ahead at the open doorway. It would have been so easy to just walk out. I was right there.

"I never said I did. I'm just asking. How can you try to find something when you don't even know what you're looking for? Kind of illogical isn't it?"

"What do you know? You're just a horse." I snapped, my anger at her words getting the better of me. I knew I shouldn't have said that but I didn't care. I hated the fact that she had picked up on something about me that no one else could.

She was right you know I honestly didn't have a clue about what I was looking for. All I knew was that I didn't want to end up like my old man, which was the reason why I was here in the first place. If I became a hero, then I couldn't be bad right?

"Coward." She had muttered it softly and I almost didn't catch it.

"What did you say?" I spun around, my hands instantly clenched into tight fists at my side. Instead of backing off she just stood there, watching me with one eye.

"You heard me." She seemed to shrug, well as much as a horse could shrug, before she lowered her neck in order to rub her nose against her knee and then sneezed loudly.

"No one calls me a coward."

Now I was pissed. I'm talking pissed. Remember the time when I tried to roast Will alive in the middle of the school cafeteria because he mentioned my father? Yeah, think that with an extra sting to it. Talking about my father always set me off but being blatantly called a coward to my face by a horse, restraint was no longer an option I was willing to consider. That pony was going down.

"I just did." She must have known that I was ready to turn her into a grilled horse-kabob because her ears did that funny back and forth thing again. "So why don't you prove me wrong? Or are you afraid of me?"

When I heard that I knew this horse was asking for it. I was mad and now I had an open challenge? That horse had a death wish or had some serious thrill issues. Or she could have been just plain crazy.

"I'm not afraid of you horse."

And I wasn't. I knew what kind of damage I was capable of inflicting and to me a gutsy big-mouthed horse didn't really seem like the catastrophic type. Honestly, how many of you would think that a horse could be just as intimidating as me in a really bad mood?

She didn't stand a chance. And that's why I ended up getting my ass kicked nice and hard. Yeah, word from someone who knows, never ever underestimate a talking horse.

"Oh yeah? You're acting like you are. Pinhead." Morgan arched her neck and kicked at the dirt while my fists began to smoke.

"Wanna bet?" My arm was already in motion by the time I spoke and the fireball I threw ended up exploding to her left, sending a shower of brown dirt all over the place. That was just the warning shot.

Morgan darted to the right and stopped short to give her head a good shake in order to get the dirt off her face. "Cute parlor trick. Now how about we try it my way?"

I stood my ground when she walked towards me, head low, ears back and tail swishing in an almost menacing manner. I just laughed and raised a fist, letting her get a good look at the tongues of flame that danced over my skin.

"And what way is that?" I tensed and waited to see what she would do.

I figured that she'd try to bite me or something so I expected a frontal attack. Instead she bolted right past me with a sudden burst of speed that came out of nowhere and slammed her hindquarters into me with enough force that I went flying face down into the dirt. I spat out a mouthful of crud and ignited both fists, meaning to roast every last hair off her four-legged body but she was quicker. As I jumped to my feet her big teeth got a nice grip on the back of my jeans and the next thing I knew I was getting one hell of a Melvin.

To this day no one knows about that.

"Whoa…ow...let me go! What are you doing?" I swore as she walked towards the wall with me half-dangling from her mouth. You'd think that I would have just flamed her and be done with it right? Well, when you're getting a world-class wedgie from an animal that weighs about ten times more than you do, shooting fireballs is the last thing on your mind, especially if you're a guy.

"You can certainly talk the talk boy, but let's see if you're as bold as your words." She dropped me and nudged me forcefully with her nose as I turned around and came face to face with those hindquarters again. Her tail was arched this time and I suddenly found myself in a position that I really didn't want to be in.

"Get on." Her head swung around and she stared at me as I backed away as quickly as I could and ended up backing myself into the wall.

"I'm not doing this." I lowered my arms when I realized what she wanted me to do. I was pissed but I wasn't stupid.

"You don't have a choice." I tried to move to the side but when she moved her tail, I froze.

"I don't ride horses." I crossed my arms and refused to budge. I heard her snort and I turned my face away just as she swatted me with her tail. If I didn't do something soon she would end up sitting on me, which had been the plan all along. No one wants to have a thousand pound animal on their chest, especially one with a butt as big as hers.

Yeah, Morgan had a huge rear. And she was proud of it too. She was the only person I knew whose backside could be considered a lethal weapon.

"Well you do now." I braced myself for the inevitable but instead of being squashed or kicked or worse Morgan just turned around so that the hard leather of the saddle that was strapped to her back was in my face. "Either you get on or I'll put you on. Which is it?"

I carefully considered my options and when my right hand started to heat up Morgan narrowed her eyes and shoved me into the wall, pinning me there between solid concrete and the saddle.

"You even think about it pinhead and I'll do more than just sit on you." Morgan growled as she moved and pushed me away from the wall with her head. I knew she was going to go for my jeans again so I jumped out of her reach and brought up my fists once more and then we were back to where we started, at a standoff.

"You're afraid of me. I knew it." Her horsy laugh filled the empty arena as she swished her tail and gave me a smug look that I wanted to wipe off her long face.

"I am not." I snarled and the sudden burst of fire along my lower arms proved that I meant business.

"Then quit being such a baby about it and get on. You do that and I'll eat my words. Horse's honour." She kept her distance as she pranced to the side and presented her left flank to me once more. "C'mon Pinhead, what do you have to loose?"

I kept my eyes on her as I thought it over. If I didn't get on her back then she would think that I really was a coward. But then again, what the heck did I care about what a horse thought of me? The real question was what would I think of me? I was old enough to know that I was acting like an immature freshman and I knew that she wasn't at all affected or impressed by my…err…non adult-like display of irritation. Was I really afraid of her? The answer was no, so then why was I being such a stubborn idiot for?

"Fine." I powered down and marched towards her, ignoring the knowing smirk that she gave me. I looked at the saddle and then at the reins that were looped around her neck and wondered how the heck was I supposed to actually get myself onto her back. I remember asking myself how the cowboys in the movies did it and I drew up a blank.

As if she could read my mind, Morgan chuckled and shook her head. "Grab the reins with your left hand. You know the leather straps that are tied around my neck? Yeah, those things."

"I know what reins are."

I scowled as I grabbed the reins with my left hand and then put my hand on the back of the saddle before I stopped and waited her to tell me what to do next.

"Now take your left foot and put in it in the stirrup before swinging your right leg over my back. Kid you're going to have to lift your leg higher than that if you are ever going to get on." Morgan stood stock still as I struggled to get my foot in the stirrup. I mentioned before that she wasn't a big horse but I still had trouble trying to get my leg up high enough but after a few tries I finally managed it.

"Okay now push yourself up with your right leg and use your arms. That's it…whoa, don't pull so hard!" Morgan choked as I literally threw myself up and over, hanging onto the reins as hard as I could so that I wouldn't slide right off the other side, which I had almost succeeded in doing.

"Sorry." I exhaled deeply as I sat there with an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Sitting on a breathing animal for the first time was a weird experience, especially when I didn't know how to sit on it. I swallowed hard as I looked down at the ground. It felt like I was miles above it and my hands instantly locked onto the front part of the saddle and refused to let go.

"Okay, I'm on. Satisfied?" I asked as I tried to hide my uneasiness with a scowl.

"No, not really." Morgan shook her neck and I clung on a little tighter. I knew she did that on purpose.

"What do you mean no? I got on didn't I? Now how do I get off?" I unlocked one hand and half-turned in the saddle so that I could see past her rump and when I did, she swatted me with her tail once more. "Seriously, how do I get off?"

Morgan flicked an ear back and took a few steps forward. Suddenly I was gripping the saddle for all I was worth having accidentally let go of the reins in order to do so.

"Whoa! Stop!"

Even to me my voice sounded scared and instant panic turned into instant humiliation and annoyance. It didn't help that Morgan started to laugh again.

"Oh you think this is funny do you?" I muttered darkly as I sat there, not knowing what to do next.

"Why yes, yes I do." She turned her head so that she could look at me. "Now if you were smart, you'd let go of the saddle and hold onto the reins with both hands or just one, whatever you feel comfortable with. And don't let your legs just hang there, you gotta use them too. Squeeze your knees Pinhead, that's the only way I'm gonna know what you want me to do because I'm no mind reader."

"Can you stop calling me that? Okay…is this right?" I held onto the reins with both hands and squeezed my legs as hard as I could.

"Something like that." She pranced forward and stopped when I accidentally yanked back on the reins.

"Okay, don't do that. Do you have any idea how much that hurts? I'm not a car, reins aren't emergency breaks so don't go yanking back as if they were a break pedal because that's only gonna piss me off. You try having a steel bit rammed between your teeth and see how you like it." Morgan growled as she chomped on the steel thing she had in her mouth, her ears pressed back again. I began to realize that whenever her ears did that it meant that she was mad about something so I made a quick mental note and muttered a half-hearted apology so that she wouldn't buck me off or anything.

"Right then. If you want to go left, pull on the left rein and squeeze with your right leg. If you want to go right, pull with your right and squeeze with your left. It's simple know-how that any shmuck can do so I'm sure you can remember it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Okay, so left is left hand and right leg and right is right hand and right leg. No…wait. Right is right hand and left leg right?"

Morgan nodded her head as she started to slowly walk down the arena.

"Okay, I think I got it. Now what about stopping?" That was the important part, that and how to get off her back without breaking my neck.

"We'll come to that later. For now just sit tight and hang on."

"What?" I looked at her, not quite getting it.

"Kid you really are hard of hearing aren't you? I told you to sit and hang on because this is gonna be interesting."

I swear I must have gone three shades of pale when I realized what she was implying.

"Oh no! No no no!"

Morgan gave a loud knicker as she picked up her feet and started to trot towards the open doorway while I literally bounced around on her back like a sack of potatoes. I've always told people that my first time riding Morgan was one of the most memorable experiences of my life for two reasons. One was that I was scared to death, which was probably one of the few times that I was ever that scared during the first 18 years of my life, and the second was that it took me two weeks before I was able to walk properly again.

Yeah…so as I was saying, Morgan started to trot towards the doorway and once we passed it, I saw Jolly and Che walking towards us with Will's father and that's when all hell broke loose.

"Uh-oh." Morgan saw them too and quickly looked around to see if there was a way of avoiding them.

"Morgan? Morgan! What are you doing with that boy!" Jolly shouted as he waved his arms before he started to run towards us.

"Time to show me what you got Pinhead." Morgan snorted as she wheeled around and I think I must have shouted or something because Jolly swore really loudly and the next thing I knew Morgan was flying in the opposite direction and I was screaming. That's right, screaming.

"_MO-GAN! _You get back here!" Jolly bellowed as Morgan took off past the empty arenas while I did my best to not fall off as I was jostled around in the saddle.

"Stop!!! Are you insane? Stop!" That was all I could manage at the time as I tired to get her to turn around but no amount of yanking and squeezing could slow her down. Instead she only went faster.

"Shut up and ride!" Morgan shouted at me as we barreled around the main building and clattered into the parking lot which was now empty with the exception of a few cars and a startled group of people.

"Warren?" Will's jaw dropped as he stepped out of the agency and watched dumbfounded as Morgan and I galloped past the front entrance.

"Will! DO something!" I shouted as loud as I could when I recognized his shirt and that was all I could say as I clung to the reins for dear life as Morgan turned unexpectedly and took off in another direction, heading straight for the road.

When I saw where Morgan was headed I knew that I was in trouble. She was going to go straight onto a busy road right in the middle of rush hour and I was most likely going to end up as road-kill if I didn't do something to stop her.

"Are you nuts? Turn left!" I shouted in her ear as I panicked and yanked hard with my left hand. Surprisingly Morgan responded and turned left just a few feet from the curb. A passing SUV honked in protest as Morgan and I zipped by, close enough to see the startled expression on the driver's face before Morgan picked up the pace and galloped down the sidewalk.

"Where are we going!" I tightened my hold on the reins as Morgan charged past a bunch of teenagers who threw themselves out of the way just in time to avoid being trampled.

"I don't know, you decide! You're the one with the reins remember?" Morgan neighed loudly as she ignored a red light and dashed across the street. I must have lost a few years of my life in that moment because I could have sworn that for a second we were dead.

"Keep your eyes open! Do what I told you!" Morgan barked as cars screeched to a sudden halt as we past them and I heard the sharp metallic crash as two cars collided into each other. How we avoided all that was beyond me but somehow Morgan was still running and I was still sitting on her, barely.

"You're nuts!" I opened my eyes just in time to see a couple with a stroller up ahead. "Shit! Right! Go right!" I yanked right and Morgan went right but kept on going in that direction so that once again we ended up on the road.

"Oh god. I'm gonna die. Holy shit!" A truck was right behind us and the driver blasted his horn.

"Get off the road!" The guy yelled at us as Morgan kept her pace and laughed as we galloped down the street, dodging traffic as I clung to her neck like a leech, praying that this would all be over soon.

That's when I spotted the public school up ahead. Beside it was a large grassy field and I knew that if I could get Morgan to go there I'd have a chance of jumping off without cracking my head open on the pavement. Realizing that this was my only chance of getting out of this in one piece, I let go of her neck and took the reins up, taking charge in the only way I knew how.

"Head for the school!" I growled as I kicked her sides and urged her on. Without so much as a peep Morgan responded and we flew past a red sedan. I put all my weight into the turn and Morgan practically leapt off the road and onto the sidewalk before I leaned to the left, reins held as tightly as I could hold them. I didn't care if I was hurting her, right then I only cared about living to see the next day. Morgan tossed her head as she darted to the left and out onto the open soccer field.

"Now it's my turn." Once we were on the field I knew I was in the safe so I threw caution to the wind and did the exact thing she told me not to do. I yanked back on the reins as hard as I could and felt a twinge of satisfaction when Morgan let out a shriek of surprise. I was nearly thrown off her back when she locked her hind legs and skidded to a dead halt with her head up in the air.

"Ow…ow…ma...mouth…leth…go!" Morgan yelped as I kept pulling on the reins.

"How do you like that huh!" I yelled as she stumbled back and tried to turn her head this way and that.

"Yor…hurthin…me…leth…_go_!" Morgan neighed and reared up and this time I did fall off, landing hard on my back as she darted to the side, tossing her head up and down. The landing knocked the wind out of me for a moment and as I tried to catch my breath Morgan butted me hard with her head and glared down at me. "What's the bright idea!"

"You were trying to kill me!" I shouted as I rolled to my feet and swung my fist as hard as I could and punched her square in the jaw. Morgan staggered and shook her head as I breathed hard and punched her again. That time I got her in the side of the mouth and I bruised my knuckles on the bit ring, but that seemed to hurt her more than it did me so I was glad.

"You stupid horse!" I yelled and the flames appeared with a gust of hot wind that instantly heated the air around me.

When she saw the fire Morgan neighed in anger and lashed out with a hoof that I tried to avoid but I guess I didn't because suddenly everything went black. I don't know how long I was out for but when I came to, Layla and Will were hovering over me with identical worried expressions on their faces.

"Oh my head." I winced as I touched the left side of my skull and found a large bump above my ear.

"Warren are you okay? Is anything broken? Can you breathe alright?"

Layla and Will helped me to sit up as I blinked owlishly and looked at them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

"We don't know. When we got here you were on the ground and the horse was trying to wake you up." Will stood up and hauled me to my feet while Layla quickly dusted me off, making sure that I didn't have a busted rib or something.

"The horse was trying to wake me up?" I looked around and spotted Morgan standing off to the side with her head hanging between her front knees while Jolly chewed her over. Will's father and Che tried unsuccessfully to calm him down and the louder Jolly ranted the lower Morgan's head went.

"Oh yeah. She wouldn't even let us near you when we got here." Will laughed uncertainly before I noticed a large tear in his shirt.

"Did she do that?" I looked at them both and Layla nodded.

"Don't ask me why but I think she was thought we were going to hurt you or something. But then the Jamaican guy arrived and started yelling and then things kind of worked from there."

Layla nervously twirled one of her braids as she watched Steve step between Morgan and Jolly and forced the guy to step back.

"For the last time calm down. Warren is fine so there is no point in continuing this any further." Steve said in a commanding voice that stopped the Rastafarian from saying whatever it was he was about to say next. "Good. Warren how's your head?"

I rubbed the bump and shrugged. "I'll live."

"You see? He's fine. No harm done." Steve said as he looked me over and nodded. "So, does someone want to tell me what exactly happened?"

"What happened? I tell you what happened. Dat girl…" Jolly started off but a sharp look from Will's father stopped him.

"Warren what happened?"

Everyone looked at me and waited for a response. I looked past Steve and eyed Morgan for a moment before I said anything. Morgan glanced up at me in apology before she looked down at the grass. I could see a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. When I had hit her I guess the bit had cut into the corner of her mouth and split her lip. No wonder she kicked me.

"Uh…we uh…decided to try a test run and…I guess we kinda got a little carried away."

Morgan lifted her head and stared at me in surprise, as did Jolly and Steve, but Layla sprung into action and crushed me with a bear hug as Will grinned like an idiot.

"Does that mean you found your hero support?" She gushed as she looked from me to Morgan and then back again.

The ground underneath my feet started to churn and when I looked down I saw that a bunch of multicolored flowers had suddenly sprung to life around us which meant that Layla was beyond happy at the moment. Flowers always sprang to life when she was excited.

"Uh…I guess. Right?" I looked at Morgan and arched an eyebrow. Morgan blinked and shuffled her feet as everyone turned to look at her.

"Why are you all looking at me for? You heard the kid." She stamped a hoof and arched her neck, trying to look somewhat dignified. "See Jolly, I wasn't trying to kill him. We just…got a little enthusiastic."

"Maybe a little too enthusiastic." I cut in as I rubbed the side of my head and winced.

"Sorry." Morgan apologized with a sheepish look.

I nodded. Apology accepted.

"So you sayin' dat you and Morgan are gonna work together from now on?" Jolly was still a bit skeptical, having spent the last two months dealing with heroes storming off in a rage due to one of Morgan's little stunts.

"I guess so." Steve answered as he gave me a small nod and a smile. I could tell that Layla wasn't the only one who was happy for me even if Steve didn't openly profess it to the world for all to see like she did. But I didn't mind, it looked like I was finally doing something that made people proud of me. It felt kinda good.

"So. Now that we got that over with I think we can make it back to the agency before they close and get all the papers filled out and sent off. The sooner we do that the sooner we can send in the application for the Herolympics."

"The _what_!" Jolly, Che and Morgan stared at Steve Stronghold when he mentioned the Herolympics.

"Warren's going to try to get into this year's Herolympics, and so is Morgan by the look of things." Steve grinned as he patted Morgan on the neck as she stood there, speechless.

"Da Herolympics. Morgan you hear dat girl? The Herolympics!" Jolly shouted with joy as he grabbed the person closest to him, which was Che, and hugged him like crazy.

"Don't hug me." Che muttered as he stood there stiffly as Jolly jumped around and laughed.

"But the Herolympics are in two months. We'll never be ready in time."

Jolly stopped dancing around and suddenly became serious as Morgan's words sunk in.

"Well den, we betta get movin' now and get started." He flipped his long dread-locks over his shoulder and looked at me. "Warren, you got a day job?"

"Yeah." What did that have anything to do with what was going on?

"Quit it. Tomorrow. We start trainin' in two days and we don't stop until you and Morgan are standin' in dat stadium." From that point on everything became business with Jolly as he looked over at Steve. "Mista Stronghold, it look like we got our work cut out for us. I trust dat you can take care of the paper work while Che and I whip these two knuckleheads into shape?" He asked as he held out his hand.

Steve glanced my way before he shook Jolly's hand. "Agreed."

From then Jolly was going to work our butts off until we got to the Herolympics. That is _if_ we got there and it was a pretty big _if_. But do you think Jolly saw it that way? Hell no. I am still convinced to this day that he must have been an Army Sergeant in a past life.


	5. Chapter 4

**reetings folks!**

**Whew! I finally managed to finish this chapter. You can thank the crunch month of post-secondary education aka hell in a hand basket, for the delay. Before I say more, a huge thank you goes out to Siyavash, Jeune Chat and Aspinminder for taking the time to review the story. You don't know how much your thoughts and insights have helped. This one is for you guys.**

**Happy ****Reading**

* * *

So now you know how Morgan and I ended up together. She took me for the ride of my life and I punched the living daylights out of her. Could you tell that we'd make quite the team? I later found out…much later mind you…that Jolly and Che had placed bets on how long I would last before I either walked out on the whole hero/side-kick thing or ended up with a broken neck.

Che had two hundred bucks riding on me getting my neck busted by one of Morgan's wild stunts. During those first two months of working with Morgan, he nearly cashed in on a number of occasions. But seeing that I'm still alive and telling you this story, you can see that Che never got his two hundred dollars and he never will.

Anyways, after we had gotten everything somewhat settled, Will's father and Jolly went to the agency to get the partnership finalized and recognized by the Hero Legality committee and once that was done, I finally got to go home.

The first thing I did when I got home was take a long shower. I'm not one for hour long showers for obvious reasons by man, I have to tell you, that was one of the best damn showers I ever had.

And then my mother walked in on me while I was getting changed. She took one look at the bruises on my back and lost it.

It wasn't pretty. No, it just…no.

I had to do some fast talking before things got out of hand and if I remember correctly it kind of went something like this.

This was my mother: "Warren! Oh my god! _What_ did you do! What happened! Is anything broken? Oh my god! Were you hit by a car? You didn't kill anyone did you?"

This was me: "Ma, I can explain everything…no I didn't kill anyone…yes I'm...Ow! Don't do that!"

My mother: "Your ribs are broken. Oh my god. Okay, just don't move. Sit down and don't move and I'll call an ambulance."

Me: "Ma don't! I'm fine! My ribs are fine. Will you stop for a second and let me explain?"

And then…

**Crash!**

"_Ah crap_."

"What was that?" My mother spun around as something big came clamoring up the stairs. I knew who it was before Morgan stuck her big head into my bedroom and all I could do was groan.

"You got to be kidding me." I rubbed my hands over my face and got my hair out of my eyes just as Morgan coughed and locked eyes with my mother.

"Uh…hi. I'm not interrupting anything am I? Your sliding door was unlocked so I thought that I'd let myself in. I hope you don't mind." Morgan said and gave my mom a horsy grin. Have you ever seen a horse smile? It's not exactly what you'd call charming.

My mother slowly turned around and gave me a look and I knew that there was no getting out of this one. "Warren," She said softly and whenever she talked like that I knew she was about a second away from biting someone's head off which usually meant mine, "I am going to ask you this just once. Why is there a talking horse in the hallway?"

I stood there with my shirt in my hands as my mother waited for an answer. It had to be a good one or else things would get really scary really fast. No one could out-rank my mother when it came to dishing out tough loving.

"Ummm, I dunno?"

Hey, I was just as stumped as she was. How the heck Morgan managed to fit in the hallway was a mystery seeing that my house was on the small side of things. Being a superhero is all good and glorified but the pay is just lousy. Most supers, my mother included, worked a day job in order to make ends meat and since my father was in maximum security until the end of time, we had to make due with surviving off a single salary.

"You don't know." My mother repeated my words and I swallowed hard.

Somehow sensing that things were about to get a little hairy Morgan decided to step in and try to diffuse the situation. I don't have to tell you that it didn't work.

"You must be Warren's mom. It's a pleasure to get to meet you. You know, your son looks exactly like you. The eyes are a little different though. I'm sure he gets them from his father. I'm Morgan by the way. I guess you can call me your son's trusty sidekick." She chuckled and rubbed her nose against the doorframe. "Oh, Warren is your dad around too? I'd like to meet him seeing that we're gonna be working together and all."

My mother and I just stared at Morgan for a minute in complete silence and then it hit her.

"Oh jeez. I'm so sorry. He's not dead is he?" Morgan looked at us in alarm and when she caught the expression on my face, her ears went back. "I just said something I shouldn't have didn't I?"

I guess I had taken it for granted that Morgan must have automatically known about my father like the rest of the hero community did and it was a surprise to find out that she didn't know a damn thing about me or my colourful heritage but I couldn't worry about that right then. My mother wanted answers and she'd do whatever she had to in order to get them.

"Morgan, could you give us a few minutes. Alone. _Now_."

I narrowed my eyes and jerked my head to the side to make sure she got the message. She took one last look at my mother and backed off into the hallway.

"Sure thing. I'll…umm…just wait in the kitchen," She muttered and when I scowled she thought otherwise. "Or I could just wait out in the yard. Yeah, that's where I'll be."

Morgan stretched out her neck, grabbed the doorknob with her teeth and closed the door as quickly as she could. Mom and I didn't move as we listened to her mutter to herself as she realized that the hallway was too narrow for her to turn around in. Every bump, jab and thud shuddered through the walls as Morgan finally managed to get down the stairs backwards and when I heard the banister splinter, I knew that the worst was far from over.

"Erm…sorry!" Morgan called up from the front hallway before she managed to worm her way through the kitchen and out the sliding door that led into our tiny backyard.

I looked down at my hands as I felt my mother's eyes drill holes into me and didn't look up until she spoke.

"Warren what is going on?"

The tired edge in her voice caught me off guard. For sure I had thought that she was going to nag my ear off about not being serious about my future or something like that but when I looked at her she just waited for me to do the talking.

"Ma…" I began and stopped. How do you tell your mother that your new sidekick was a thousand pound animal and that you were about to quit your job in order to take a stab at following a dream? It's not as easy as you people would think.

"Mom, sit down." Without taking her eyes off me my mother sat down on the edge of my bed, moving aside a pile of scattered clothes in order to do so. "Promise me that you'll let me explain everything before you say anything? Okay?"

Well when my mother heard that she opened her mouth to give me an earful but I bet her to it.

"It's not what you think. I didn't break any laws or set a building on fire or anything. I just…well…okay yesterday when I was at Will's, Steve gave me this application and told me that I had to go to the hero agency today or else he'd drag me there by force and well, I went and we spent the entire day interviewing people and nobody was good enough. I got fed up and left and then I saw this guy storm out of one of those training arenas they have in the back and that's when I saw Morgan and somehow she managed to trick me into sitting on her. Don't ask me how that happened because I'm still trying to figure it out. So I was sitting on her, Mom I was actually sitting on a horse, and then she decides to scare the heck out of me, and it worked, and we almost got hit by a car and then there was a truck and then I almost fell off. Everything just happened so fast…I don't know. I managed to get off her…well she threw me off which is why I'm bruised…so I lost it and punched her. Well she hit me back and then Jolly showed up and started going nuts but Steve managed to settle everything and now I have to quit the Paper Lantern in order to train for the Herolympics…yeah."

The words just came spilling out of my mouth like some sort of word vomit and I couldn't stop talking until I told her everything. You know how people always talk about having a weight lift off them once they've come clean about something? That's exactly what it felt like when I told my mother what had happened to me that day. Despite the bruises, I felt like I could breathe easy now that she knew.

My mother sat there and didn't say anything for a while. I don't know if she was confused about what I had just told her or if she was just shocked that I had said all that without before forced to. I was never one for constant chatter. Mom always said that I got the whole "silent and serious" thing from dad's side of the family.

"That horse is the one that did this to you?"

Out of everything I had just said my mother had to bring up _that_ point. Don't you just love how all moms work? The fact that I was trying out for the Herolympics didn't even faze her but I get one scratch and it's the end of the world.

"Yeah but it was my fault…kind of."

Whoa, hang on a second. Did I just defend Morgan? My mother was just as taken back as I was and then I found myself under some severe parental scrutiny.

"Warren are you sure you're feeling all right? Maybe it would be best if I brought you to a walk-in clinic at least." My mother stood up and tried to feel my forehead but I moved out of the way.

"Mom I'm fine. Did you even hear what I just said?"

"I heard you but for the life of me I cannot figure out why you would want to try out for the Herolympics. You've never said anything about it before. Did your friends put you up to this? I know that they're your friends and are trying to help but you don't have to do it just to please them."

"They didn't have anything to do with this. Mom I _want_ to do this okay?" She wasn't getting it. For some reason my mother just wasn't getting it and I couldn't figure out why.

"But the Herolympics? Warren, people have gotten hurt and even killed in it over the years."

I snorted and narrowed my eyes as she spoke.

"I'm not afraid of a challenge." I growled. And I wasn't. I knew that it would be nothing but hard work but this was something that I wanted and I wasn't going to back down now that I had a chance of actually achieving it just because my mother was more paranoid about me getting hurt.

"But have you thought about the consequences?" My mother's voice went hard and I blinked. I looked at her and for a second I didn't recognize her. My mother's eyes were hard. I had never seen her look at me that way before. That was way I usually looked at people who pissed me off. I'm not ashamed to say that it startled me.

"Aren't you at least somewhat happy about this? You're always telling me to hurry up and figure out what I'm going to do with my life. I thought this is what you wanted." I couldn't keep the hurt edge out of my voice. My mother was all I really had, aside from the Scooby gang, and I had thought that she would have been proud of me for once.

Okay I know that sounds lame coming from me, the Big Bad Warren Peace, but c'mon, I'm just as human as the next guy despite the fireballs that come flying from my fists. Now that I think of it, I guess I was kind of a momma's boy back then. Not that anyone knew because if they did they wouldn't be around long enough to say anything.

My mother must have picked up on what I was feeling because I sure didn't show it. "Warren, I don't want you to do something because you think that it's what I want. I want you to do something because it is what you want to do. Is this really what you want?"

"Yeah I guess…" I looked away from her and tried to glance out the window to see if I could spot what Morgan was up to in the backyard but my mother blocked my view when she moved in front of me so that I had no choice but to look at her.

"No Warren, no guessing. Is this what you want, yes or no?" She kept her eyes glued on my face as she spoke. I never could lie to my mother. She always had that knack for getting the truth out of me no matter what the circumstance. I guess it's a mom thing.

"Yes."

There I said it and she knew I meant it.

"And are you prepared to deal with the consequences of this decision? Have you thought over what being a hero means? The challenges that you'll face? The sacrifices that you are going to have to make?" It was the way she said the last bit that really got me. My mother knew everything about sacrificing and there was more to her objections than the idea of me breaking my neck.

My father's face, the one I only remembered from old pictures of him, sprang into my mind and then I knew.

"Yes mom, I have! I thought that you of all people would understand why I want to go through with this. You don't think that I haven't gone over everything already? You think that I'll just do something like this because I have nothing better to do?"

I've always had a hard time of controlling myself whenever I got angry and my mother knew this. She knew the signs and knew what would happened if I went too far.

"No Warren, that's not what I meant…" She said quickly in hopes of calming me down before I did something I would regret.

"Then what did you mean? You don't think that I can do this? You don't believe that I can be a hero, just like everyone else?" I yelled at her and from out in the backyard Morgan lifted her head and listened.

"Warren don't put words in my mouth." My mother pleaded as she took a reluctant step back as I paced back and forth like a caged tiger, my hands curled into tight fists at my side.

"Well what is it then!" I snarled as I turned on her. I knew better than that but I couldn't help myself. All I saw was my dad's face and the worry in my mother's eyes and it didn't take a genius to put two and two together. "You think I'll turn out like dad and spend the rest of my life in a cell right beside his? Wouldn't that be something. Two generations of Battles locked up side by side, that'll give the community something to talk about for the next sixty years!"

I didn't even realize that I had thrown the desk lamp against the wall until I heard the crash and my mother's gasp. I took in a shaky breath as I looked down at my hands. The flame tattoos on my wrists flickered and flashed as if they were real. They only did that when I was about to power up and roast something.

Out in the backyard Morgan let out a worried whinny that caught my attention. I moved towards the window so that I wouldn't have to look at my mother. Morgan was pacing back and forth like I had been doing a moment ago, pawing the grass as she kept her eyes on my bedroom window. When she saw me she stopped and gave me a questioning look that I didn't react to. I just scowled and she seemed to somehow understand.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." My mother sighed heavily.

"Mom, I'm eighteen. You can't protect me forever." I looked for my shoulder as I said that, making sure my mother got the message. And she did and a pang of guilt flashed through me.

The last person in the world that I ever wanted to hurt was my mother. I didn't mean to hurt her like this, it was just that every time I try to do something my father always seems to crop up like a bad dream that just wouldn't go away. Nothing I did or tried to do was ever good enough to get rid of him. God I hated him and I hardly knew him.

"I know. I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you too. Loosing your father was bad enough but you…I don't…I just…I couldn't…not you…"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My mother, the strongest woman I knew, looked as if the world had just come crashing down around her and it was my fault. I stood there, rooted to the spot as she turned away so I wouldn't see her wipe the tears away from her eyes.

"Mom…" I swallowed as the streak of rage in me slowly extinguished itself. "Hey, mom it's okay. It's not like I'm going off to war or something."

I cautiously reached out and put my hand on her shoulder, fully expecting her to wince and brush me off. Instead her shoulders sagged a little bit more and I suddenly felt lower than pond scum.

"Oh Warren, being a hero is like fighting a never-ending war for your entire life. Once you're committed, there is no turning back." My mom slowly turned and looked up at me. At 18, I was a good half-head taller than she was. My father was a tall man. "You have the chance to live a normal life. Don't go running into this because you feel that you have to prove to the world that you are not your father. You aren't him Warren, you know that."

"I know ma." My voice actually cracked and I stopped so that I could pull myself together. "Look, if this doesn't work out and I can't get a license then I'll…I'll apply for the fall term at the state college."

"What?" The disbelief on her face mirrored what I was feeling inside but I pushed on. I had to make it up to her.

"I don't even know if I'll get accepted into this thing and if I don't then at least I gave it a shot. I just…I need this mom. I have to try."

God, I couldn't count the number of times that I had heard that line said from guys in movies but for once it actually meant something to me. Luke Skywalker said it when he had to face his father and I said it because I had to face mine in a way. If I did this then I could prove that I was a better man then he was. The only thing I didn't have that Luke did was a lightsaber. But now I had a horse, so I guess that evened the score. Lightsabers are cool and all but horses can think for themselves, especially ones that never shut up.

"You never could let an opportunity pass you by." My mother sniffed as she squared her shoulders and held her head high and I knew that my peace offering had been accepted.

"Yeah, well I'm just as stubborn as you so you can't blame me for being this way." I snorted and gave her an apologetic look.

"Now, if you don't make it to the…" She began and I cut her off.

"If I don't make it, I'll terminate my agreement with Morgan and become another inactive law-abiding citizen. Whether or not I end up becoming a hero is one thing, but either way I'm still going to have to make a living somehow right? And I know for a fact the Paper Lantern doesn't have benefits…or a union. See, I am thinking about my future." I shrugged and ran my hand through my hair.

My mother crossed her arms and shook her head as she glanced out the window to see for herself if Morgan was eating her tiny herb garden. Instead Morgan was scratching the side of her face against our wooden fence without a care in the world.

"Can I ask you why you chose a horse out of all the hero support available? The only time you have ever been near a horse was at the petting zoo that you went to on that class trip in the second grade. And that was a Shetland pony." My mother pointed out and she was right, as per usual. Aside from that day the only other time that I ever touched a horse was when I was seven.

"Yeah, it's kind of confusing. I think Steve had something to do with it but I'm not sure." I shrugged again. I said it before, I really didn't have any idea how we ended up being partners aside from the fact that it just sort of happened.

"I think it's time I had a talk with Steven Stronghold." Mom muttered to herself as she turned away from the window. "He may think he has all the authority in the world when it comes to hero business but who does he think he is telling my son what to do?"

"Ma, please don't start anything." Even though my old man was one of the top ten supervillians of the twentieth century, my mother always had something against Will's father. I guess throwing her husband in the slammer for a quadruple life-sentence didn't sit too well with her as it did with the rest of the world.

"Start anything? He started it and I'm going to finish it. Threatening you and endangering your life because he wants to act like the big hero. Isn't saving the world twice a day enough of a power trip for that man? It's about time I gave _Steven_ Stronghold a piece of my mind." A determined look came into my mother's mind and I stepped out of her way as she headed out of my room. When my mother had that look nothing on this planet could stop her from doing whatever it was she wanted to do. See, I told you I got my stubborn side from her.

Steve could hold his own against my mom, especially if she was "giving him a piece of her mind" on the phone. Ever since Will and I became friends our parents were always going at each other. Most of the time it was subtle, little comments or gestures here and there but there had been times when things heated up and there was nothing Will nor I could do anything but to stand back and watch the fireworks.

When I heard my mother start talking to Josie on the phone in her room, I knew it was time that got a move on things. I shrugged on the faded t-shirt that I had dropped when I had thrown my desk lamp and grabbed the garbage can that was beside my desk. The lamp was battered and the bulb broken but it would work again once I put in a new bulb. My wall however had a serious dent in it and the paint was chipped. Luckily that could be covered up with a poster. My walls were covered with them and most of them were of my favorite rock bands. Yeah, I was a rocker in those days. C'mon I had an image to uphold. How could I be the Prodigal Son if I dug the Beatles? Somehow the whole Sergeant Pepper look didn't really fit.

Once I managed to pick up all the tiny glass fragments, I stepped into my shoes without brothering to tie them and headed for the stairs. Morgan was still in the backyard and I had to get rid of her before my mother started asking more questions about how exactly I almost busted all my ribs.

"Oh man."

Remember that crash I heard when my mother started freaking out about my back? Yeah well my mother's favorite crystal vase, the one she got from my grandmother at her bridal shower, was on the floor, in a million pieces scattered all over the place. When my mother saw this she was going to freak.

"Oh _man_!" I stopped when I reached the stairs. The banister was busted. I mean busted. God only knew what else Morgan managed to destroy.

"Horse!" I shouted as I jumped over the splintered wooden banister and wiped out when I landed on a bunch of crystal fragments. Thank god I had shoes on. I managed to grab the edge of the banister in mid-fall so that I didn't land on my ass, which really would have hurt like hell seeing that I could barely walk from that joy ride Morgan gave me. I quickly glanced up the stairs to see if my mother had heard anything but I could hear her arguing on the phone so I knew I had a few minutes before she discovered the mess.

"_Horse_!" Picking my way through the crystal minefield as fast as I could, I made it to the kitchen without incident and practically flew out into the backyard, ready to strangle Morgan with my bare hands.

"HOR…"

"Yo! I'm not deaf you know." Morgan piped up as she lifted her head off the top of the fence and turned towards me. She had been spying on my neighbors and for some reason old Mrs. Schneider hadn't realized that a horse had been staring at her over the fence for the past ten minutes. "So is everything good to go? What?"

"What did you do to my house?" I growled between gritted teeth.

"Oh. Sorry about the vase…and the banister…and your back…and your butt." She looked down at her hooves as her ears went back a bit but I wasn't letting her off that easy.

"What? Never mind. How the hell did you get here?"

"I followed you." She said as she looked up at me, still keeping her head lowered like she had when Jolly had blasted her one. I would later come to learn that this was her way of showing guilt but right then I thought she was just trying to act cute so I would rile on her.

"You followed me? How? I didn't see you." Which was true. I figured that I would have spotted a horse following me home through the downtown traffic. It wasn't as if horses were a common sight in the Maxville Suburbia.

Morgan's ears went forward again and she looked at me with one eye, a sly smirk on her lips…err…muzzle.

"Well?" I demanded. I still wanted to throttle her because when my mother got off that phone and saw the destruction, I was going to be the one to get it.

"I have my ways." Was all she said before she turned around and headed for the gate.

"What ways? Hey! I'm not finished with you!" I growled as she started to nose the gate latch.

"Do you really think that I'd stay around and let you chew me over? Hey I apologized didn't I? What more do you want? A written statement? Like I got hands to write with anyways." Morgan snorted and swung her head around and nudged me in the chest, stopping me in my tracks.

"Would you mind telling me why you followed me home?" I growled as I strained to step forward but Morgan kept her head against my chest and wouldn't budge. I had no choice but to be the one to step back.

"Because it was the polite thing to do." She sniffed and twitched her whiskered nose.

"Polite? Destroying private property isn't polite. Don't you know anything?" I shook my head in amazement. She was supposed to be a horse shape-shifter but she seemed to have the common sense of a mule and I didn't know any mules.

"Are you still going to carry on about that? I said I was sorry! So sorry! Now can we get on with life? I could get Che to come by and help fix the banister if you want." She offered openly as she snorted loudly and shook her head, still twitching her nose.

"No. Just don't. I don't need any more of you coming over here…what are you doing?" I watched her as she stamped the ground and snorted once more, her eyes going cross-eyed as she tried to lick her nose with her tongue.

"Friggin itch won't go away. Would you mind?" She asked me as she stretched her head a little and stuck her nose in my face.

"What? No! Get away." I moved back but she followed me.

"Please? What, you're not manly enough to scratch someone's nose?" She challenged and I glared at her as she butted me lightly with her nose. "I won't stop until you do ya know."

"What about I singe your whiskers off? Would that help?" I asked oh-so-nicely as I raised my fist. Morgan quickly stepped to the side but not before shooting me a dirty look.

"Well for your big fat information I came over to apologize for what happened earlier and to say hi to your parents. We're partners aren't we? It's only proper ethics to introduce oneself to the parental units so they can see me and judge whether or not their son is going to go off into the hero world on the back of closet-case psychopath. And Jolly threatened to stick me in a stall for a week if I didn't come over and apologize." Morgan flicked back an ear and scowled at the thought of being stuck in a stall for seven days.

"Oh." We stood there for a minute without saying anything and both of our heads turned at the same time when my mother's voice could suddenly be heard through the closed window of her bedroom. She was yelling about Steve being a patronizing tights-wearing know-it-all and I could just imagine what he was saying about her.

"So…how'd she take it?" Morgan shyly asked.

"Good." I replied.

"Oh?" She gave me her full attention, perked ears and all.

"Well, at least I think so. It's going to take time to sink in. You know parents." I half-shrugged. Morgan didn't say anything and I watched her out of the corner of my eye. We both stood and listened as my mother started to rant about knowing how to raise her own son and didn't need the help from someone who sold real-estate to tell her what to do thank you very much, seeing how it was his fault in the first place that her son grew up without a father, supervillian or not be damned.

My face grew hot as I heard my mother and I didn't want Morgan eavesdropping on something she knew nothing about. I didn't want her asking questions. I hated it when people asked me questions about this sort of thing.

Surprisingly Morgan didn't say anything. She just looked at me and went over to the fence in order to rub her nose against the wooden boards.

"Oh, almost forgot." Morgan said as the sound of my mother's voice died down. She must have realized that the entire neighborhood could probably hear her and moved into the bathroom, which was about as soundproof as my house could get. "Tomorrow Jolly's going to come by and pick you up around twelve so make sure you take care of everything with your job before then and pack as much as you can tonight."

Whoa, what?

"Tomorrow? Where am I going?" This was all news to me. No one told me anything about going anywhere.

"To my father's ranch, the best place in the whole world." Morgan's chest puffed out as she smiled to herself, swishing her tail happily as she did so. I just frowned.

"And I'm going to stay there? For how long?" How could Steve forget to tell me about this? What, was I supposed to wake up tomorrow and automatically realize what was going on?

"Well that all depends on whether or not we actually get into the Herolympics. Seeing that it's in two months, I'd say you're going to be staying with us for roughly that amount of time." Morgan said, oblivious to the peeved expression on my face.

"Two months?" I muttered to myself, trying to wrap my head around the idea of me being away from home and everything I knew for that length of time with complete strangers.

"Yep, two solid months. Just you and me. Should be fun." Morgan chuckled as she reached over and nudged my shoulder.

"But what about my mom and my friends? Am I going to be able to see them?" I reached up and shoved her nose away from me as hard as I could. Morgan arched her neck with a snort and stared at me.

"Hey, I know this isn't the best timing in the world but the Herolympics is in two months. That's eight weeks and eight weeks isn't a lot of time, especially for a couple of greenhorns like us. And trust me when I say that we're going to need every waking minute to get ourselves ready in time. You don't even know how to ride a horse remember?" She said sharply, in a no-nonsense tone, as she pointed out the obvious. She did have a point even if I didn't want to admit she was right.

"But…" I glanced up at my mother's bedroom window and I didn't see Morgan follow my gaze nor the look of understanding in her eyes.

"Yeah I know it sucks the big one but there's nothing we can do about it. Jolly's word is law when it comes to stuff like this and I'm afraid your friend the Commander is backing him up on it." She said quietly and lifted her head to get a better look at a robin that twittered at us from my neighbor's eves trough.

"So I have to be ready for twelve?" I sighed, seeing that I didn't have much of a choice or say in the matter. We only had two months to achieve the near-impossible and there really wasn't any place around here where Morgan and I could work together without being seen. It's kind of hard to stick a horse into a private gym or training facility.

"Yeah. Mr. Stronghold said that he'll be coming up on the weekends to see how we're doing and is going to keep us updated on what's going on with the applications and whatnot. Also, your friends have agreed to come up whenever they can to help us train. You got some pretty swell compadres if you don't mind me saying so. You're lucky."

"They can be a pain sometimes, but they're cool. What about you?"

Morgan frowned and gave me a puzzled look when I asked her the question. "What about me?"

"I'm not going to be surrounded by furry woodland creatures when I get up there am I?" That would have been something else. Dealing with a horse was one thing, but having Bambi, Thumper and all the rest of them traipsing around the place at all hours of the day would have driven me nuts. The only pet I ever had was a goldfish when I was six. I wasn't used to being around animals and had no idea how I would react if there was a horde of them watching my every move. Already the idea of staying on a ranch was making me uneasy. I was a city boy and being isolated on a ranch in the middle of nowhere for two months wasn't exactly what I would call relaxing. Not that it was supposed to be relaxing but you know what I mean.

"Nah. It's just me, Jolly and Che. Most of my amigos are up in Canada."

Now that caught my attention.

"Canada?"

"Yep. I'm half Canuck believe it or not. I got a maple leaf on my butt and the stars and stripes on my shoulder." She laughed, well more like whinnied, at my slightly surprised expression.

"Really?" I glanced at her shoulder but didn't see any sort of marking. Yeah, the day horses have tattoos.

"It's just an expression." She mused. "And no I don't play hockey, yes I like maple syrup and no I don't live in an igloo. Oh, and Wayne Gretzky is the Great One, is and always will be, amen." She stamped her foot to emphasize the last bit.

"Right."

Igloos? Where did that come from?

"Don't worry Pinhead. Two weeks with me and I'll have you talking with an accent, no doot aboot it eh." Morgan nickered and started to sniff my hair for some strange reason.

"I can hardly wait." I ducked and moved off to the side, getting slightly standoffish. No one touches the hair. Morgan rolled her eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest. She muttered something about all males being paranoid about their image but I pretended that I didn't hear it.

"Alright tough guy. I'll go and leave you to party away your last night of freedom with your friends because god knows from tomorrow on its all work and no play. See you soon." She winked at me and it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Yeah whatever."

"Well that's gratitude for you. So much for trying to make nice." Morgan quickly reached out with her neck and nipped me on the thigh, not hard but it made me jump back a bit. I whirled to face her, ready to power up and torch her like the last time but then I realized that she was laughing. "Oh man, you are so touchy."

"Horse you couldn't _make nice_ if you tried. And I'm not touchy." I shot back as I lowered my arms and rubbed my leg, trying to get horse slobber off my clean jeans.

"Oh we'll just see about that _Pinhead_. Remember, it's gonna be a long two months on _my_ back and I like to jump. Nice and high. Oh and if I were you, I'd get me some more of those boxers. Fruit of the Loom cotton is really tough and you're gonna need them." Morgan gave me a horsy smile, letting me get a good look that those huge teeth of hers.

"Shut up." Oh man, how the hell would I ever live that one down? The memory of Morgan's teeth made me wince.

"I just hope you ain't thinking about having kids any time soon." Morgan snickered and swished her tail in my face. With that she turned and opened the fence latch with her nose. I watched as she blew me a kiss and trotted out of the backyard, laughing to herself.

I waited until the fence swung shut before I leaned against the side of the house and slid down onto the grass. Right then I started to have doubts about my decision with being paired up with Morgan. She was a horse for crying out loud and what good was a horse to a guy who's idea of problem solving was roasting whatever it was the annoyed the heck outta him to a pile of cinders.

_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!_

"What the?" I whipped my head up so fast I smacked the back of my skull against the brick wall and swore.

"HEY! WATCH IT PAL! I'M WALKIN' HERE!"

"GET OFF THE ROAD YOU CRAZY ANIMAL!"

"WHY DON'T YOU MAKE ME!"

A car horn blasted loudly once, twice, three times as Morgan swore something that had no right coming from a horse and I suddenly had a bad feeling about all of this.

"What am I doing?" I muttered to myself as I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against my arms, silently praying that things would somehow turn out all right.

"Warren!_ What happened to the banister!_"

Great.


	6. Chapter 5 And It Begins

**Greetings folks!**

Here's a few words from our sponsors before we begin. Many thanks for taking the time to reading this story and to those who have reviewed it, props to you guys! I realize that so far the story is a little on the...er...slow side if you will. I promise it will pick up. I've been having the hardest time sorting through all the ideas and such that I want to write down but now I think I have them all so from the next chapter on we're gonna rip it, roll it and punch it.

Also I know the voice of Warren that's narrating this story isn't what you would normally expect i.e. he's not dark nor cynical. Hopefully I'll be able to show that transformation (well part of it anyway) in this "episode". After all he is talking to us as a 35 year old so somewhere along the line he grew up with a little help from a certain loud-mouth horse (can ya see where the humour comes from? Heh). And with that I'll stop blabbering and let you get on with the chapter. This chapter is short but the next one will be longer...training begins!

Happy Reading

* * *

"D'is is the place."

I barely heard him over the persistent pounding in my skull. Two Advil and about a gallon of black coffee hadn't done a thing to ease the hangover I was nursing. The night before I had gone out with the gang to "celebrate" my last night of freedom and somehow a bottle of Jack Daniels found its way into my hand, which didn't go over well with the celebratory bottle of champagne I had shared with my mother nor with the tequila shots that Steve treated me to when I arrived at the Stronghold residence.

Usually I was the designated driver whenever the gang and I got together but that night Zach was the one who ended up being the chauffeur. He had gotten his driver's permit a month before and it was a good thing he was the one behind the wheel because I think I must have passed out around one in the morning. I honestly don't remember much about that night, well except for horking in the backseat. Zach later told me that he had been forbidden to drive the family car for two months after that but I made it up to him by getting him a Captain America autograph. And I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Warren, wake up mon. We here." Jolly nudged me as the truck jostled on the rocky dirt road that we had been driving on for the past ten minutes. I swear I think Jolly drove over every pot hole on purpose.

"Stop the car."

I pressed my head against the glass window and swallowed hard as the cab shook from side to side as we drove over a particularly deep pot hole.

"What?" He looked over at me as the world started to spin before my eyes.

"Stop the car!"

Jolly got the hint and the truck skidded to a jarring halt. I ripped off my seatbelt and yanked open the passenger door as fast as I could. I made it to the side of the road before my stomach gave out on me. When I finally stopped heaving I crawled to my feet and vertigo hit me, so I ended up right back where I had started. I had fallen and there was no way that I was getting back up.

"Kid, if ya can't handle it don't drink it." Jolly laughed as he put the truck in park and came over to get me. "Maybe dis time you learn."

"This never…happened before." I rasped as Jolly grabbed me and half-carried me back to the truck. I had had hangovers before but never anything like this.

Jolly snorted something under his breath as he propped me up against the side of the vehicle. My knees kept threatening to give out on me but Jolly kept me up until the nausea spell passed and only then did he help me get back into the truck.

"I'm guessin' now that ya never drank dis much before? Ya lucky as hell kid that ya didn't get flame happy last night. Ya woulda burned youself up like a candle now." Jolly said as he rooted around in box of the truck before he came over and handed me a water bottle.

"What?" I groaned as I slowly tried to get the water down my throat without triggering the urge to bring it back up again.

"What they teach you in dat school of yours? You a pyro Warren, ya get too much alcohol in ya and ya gonna burn youself to da ground. Booze is flammable and so are ya. Da two of ya never meant to be together." Jolly clapped me on the shoulder and I couldn't help but groan again.

"Never again." I muttered as Jolly laughed and closed the door.

"No worries. We at da ranch now. First thing ya gonna do is sleep it off. Then we make up for lost time tomorrow. No sense in havin' ya kill youself on da first day." Jolly cranked the truck into drive and we continued down the dirt road. This time he did his best to avoid the ruts in the road.

If I had been sober I would have taken an interest in the surrounding scenery. Along the poorly made dirt road was a high wooden fence that sectioned off into a number of empty fields. The fence just kept on going and going until Jolly finally turned onto the long drive that led to the sprawling ranch.

My first look at the Nelson ranch is something that I still haven't forgotten, even after all these years….

_Okay, quick side-note here before I go on telling this thing. Despite what some people may like to think, I wasn't all that perceptive as a teenager. Perception to me was teen/rebel angst and most of the time I let my emotions rule my way of thinking. Hence the reason why everyone thought that I was some fire-happy juvenile delinquent. I don't blame them; I sure as hell acted like one. That's where the Bad Boy Peace idea originated. It's taken me _**years**_ to break down that stereotypical image that I had created for myself. Yeah, that's right, Big Bad Warren Peace isn't so big and bad anymore. _

_And I'm rambling. I told you that I wasn't good at this whole story-telling thing. _

_Great where was I again? Teenage stupidity. Good times man good times. So the whole point of this little rant is to let you know that when I first saw the ranch, I didn't really see it for what it was. Why? Because I wasn't completely sober, I felt like vomiting up a lung and I was in a really bad mood. Hey, after three-quarters of a bottle of Jack Daniels, you'd be feeling the same way. _

_Now back to what I was saying…I'll shut up now…yeah…_

…the entire thing looked like something out of a spaghetti western. I fully expected John Wayne to come riding in from the pasture herding a bunch of cows. The place was just huge. There were fields of grass in every direction for as far as the eye could see and along the west fields there was a tree line that led off to god knows where.

The only thing that seemed to be missing from the picturesque homestead were the animals. There wasn't so much as a cow or sheep in sight.

My eyes were drawn to the one story log house that was longer than it was tall. A deep set porch ran across the entire length of the place with rocking chairs, whicker chairs, swinging chairs and just about every other chair you could think of lined up against the wall.

Sprawled out on the front step was an old black and tan coonhound that was soaking up some rays while a fat grey cat lounged beside it in the shade. I'd later learn that Dozer and Boozer were inseparable and went everywhere and did everything together, even though they were both sixteen years old. That was like what, a hundred and something in dog years?

There was an actual hitching post out in the front of it was well as a working pump and a trough. For some reason I thought that was really funny. Who uses water pumps these days?

"Sight for sore eyes don't ya think?" Jolly chuckled as he pulled up in front of the house. "All dis has been in Morgan's family for generations. The only thing dat's new is da stable behind da house. The original barn burned down years ago and Morgan's father built a stable instead." Jolly turned off the truck and stepped out while I sat there and stared up at the row of bleached buffalo skulls and deer antlers that were hung over the porch. A huge set of moose antlers were nailed above the doorway with two old horseshoes nailed into them.

Jolly caught me staring them as he opened the passenger and helped me out.

"All Nelson's have lucky feet. Morgan has dem, her father had them and so did her grandfather. Those old shoes have a story behind dem but I'll tell it to you some other time. Now we gotta get ya settled."

Jolly went to the back of the truck and began to unload my things as I stared at everything, feeling like a fish out of water. That was about when it hit me. This wasn't some movie set. It was real. All of it. Even the smells were real. It all felt alien to me and yet somehow it seemed to fit. I was in another world and miles from any form of modernization that I was used to.

"You gonna stand there all day?" Jolly asked as he walked past with my duffle bags and walked into the house, the wooden door swinging freely as if it had a mind of its own. The doors on the ranch were never locked. They were always open to anyone who wanted to drop by and say hello and it wasn't as if they needed a security alarm. The ranch was literally in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest town and hours away from Maxville.

"Well look what blew in."

I blinked and slowly turned around; careful not to make any sudden movements least I lost my balance. My legs still felt like melted rubber.

"Who are you?" I asked as I eyed the person leaning against the tailgate of the truck with a grin running from ear to ear.

The girl was as tall as I was and wasn't exactly would you would call pretty. She was plain looking, broad featured and had a pair of shoulders on her that made me think of the NFL. There was nothing slender or outwardly feminine about her. She looked like the female version of Rocky, black hair and all along with the legs of a speed skater. I couldn't help but stare at her legs. That girl had thigh muscles that could have crushed a Thigh Master.

She was dressed in every-day ranch wear which meant old jeans, an old shirt and a pair of boots covered in dirt and bits of straw. There was something about that grin that reminded me of Morgan.

I actually did a double take when I realized it was Morgan who I was looking at.

"Surprise." She scrunched her nose and laughed when I blinked and looked her over.

"Morgan?" I just wanted to make sure this was her and not some close relative. The only form I knew Morgan in had four legs and a tail.

"The one and only." She beamed. "Well, what do you think?"

Morgan gestured to everything around her.

"It's uh…um…." I managed to say. This was Morgan. Not horse Morgan but human Morgan. My mind was still blown.

Morgan looked at me and arched an eyebrow. "You look like shit, you okay?"

"Morgan why are there saddles all over da house?" Jolly barked as he came striding out of the house empty handed.

"I was cleaning them. All the tack needs to get scrubbed down and we're almost out of saddle soap. Did you expect him to ride bareback or something?" Morgan snorted and I snapped out of whatever funk I was in. I knew that snort.

"Is this for real?" Jolly and Morgan both looked at me as I shook my head in an attempt to clear it.

"What's up with Warren? You didn't drug him to bring him up here did you?" Morgan asked Jolly who just rolled his eyes.

"No Morgan, I only do that to ya 'cus ya two sheets shy of a load when it comes to driving. I swear girl ya half mule sometimes. Warren had too much of a good time last night."

Morgan gave me a sly look.

"Well you know the only way to cure that is to get some food in you. I can get Che to whip up a batch of greasy bacon, some nice crispy hash browns and a stack of toast smothered in butter. A few cups of black coffee so strong you'll be up until midnight will scare the booze right outta you. And I'll let you know that Che makes one mean pot of coffee. I've seen tar softer than what he boils."

Morgan tried really hard not to burst out laughing when I went three shades of green. Just the thought of bacon and coffee made my stomach churn and when I felt the bile reach the back of my throat I staggered over to the closest patch of grass I could find and retched up whatever was left of my stomach.

"Morgan what the matter with ya girl? Why ya go and say someting like now?" Jolly scolded as Morgan stamped her foot over and over and chuckled into her hand, keeping her back to me so that she wouldn't see me on my hands and knees.

Yeah, that was her way of letting me save face. Morgan never was the most tactful person when it came to those kinds of situations. After all, she was the one who loved to roll in mud so me spewing my guts out didn't seem like much to her.

"Sorry Jolly but it's better he gets it out of his system now instead of up-chucking inside." Morgan quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure that I was okay.

"Yah, well ya can be the one to bring him inside and get him settled in. _And no funny business. _I be keepin' both me eyes on you." Jolly said as it pointed his finger at her before turning around and going back into the house.

Morgan shook her head and waited a few minutes before she approached me.

"You must really be getting a kick out of this aren't you?" I growled as I glared up at her. Morgan's response was a shrug of her shoulders before she grabbed me by the arm and hauled me to my feet.

"I find a lot of things amusing pal but seeing someone get sick isn't one of them. Trust me on this one, it'll pay off later." She said as she dusted me off.

"Trust you? Now that's funny." I swallowed hard and winced at the god-awful aftertaste that was in my mouth. Morgan snorted again as she put my arm around her shoulders and practically carried me into the house.

"I can walk." I muttered but she didn't listen to me. Instead she turned her head and gave me a sound sniff.

"You need a bath man."

"So do you. Whoa…"

A wave of lightheadedness came out of nowhere and my legs finally gave out on me once we were inside the house. I think I might have fainted but I'm not really sure. Morgan filled me in on it later. It would seem that alcohol can be a real hazard in my case. Drinking too much is one thing but purging myself to the point of dehydration, especially since I'm "a fire hazard", is something else completely.

"You know you got a thing for passing out. That's twice in 24 hours."

I cracked an eye open and quickly closed it when I saw Morgan's face hovering a few inches above mine.

"Go away." My voice sounded like Clint Eastwood's in those _Dirty Harry_ movies, it was that rough. I tried to swallow but for some reason my throat didn't want to cooperate. "What's going on?"

"That's enough from you pinhead. You are so damn lucky I'm here right now. Oh you are so stupid. I swear I don't know what you were thinking last night. What did you drink? Rubbing alcohol? I wouldn't be surprised."

Morgan kept muttering to herself and I couldn't make out half of it because she left half-way through her rant. I breathed in deeply and opened my eyes again and was surprised to see a ceiling fan slowly rotating above me. Watching the wooden fins slowly whirl in sync for a moment I carefully turned my head and took a good look at where I was.

I was in a room. Okay, that much I knew. But why was a deer staring at me? And why was it wearing a Stetson hat?

Oh wait…it was stuffed. That would explain it. A dead stuffed deer head with a hat…oh god.

I closed my eyes and slowly counted to ten in my head. I could only imagine what the rest of the room looked like and something told me that the deer probably had friends. I didn't get chance to confirm my suspicions when Morgan barged back into the room, still muttering to herself.

"Don't you ever think? What were your friends trying to do to you? Kill you? Don't any of you pinheads know what could happen…Warren?"

Something cold and wet touched my face and when I opened my eyes again Morgan was holding a mug in front of me.

"You still with me?" Morgan asked as she adjusted the soaking washcloth that she had placed on my forehead.

"Ask the deer." Morgan gave me a funny look before bringing the mug closer. I took one whiff of it and grimaced. "What is it?"

"It'll cure what ails you. Tastes like crap but it works. Don't make me force it you're your throat." She warned when I refused to open my mouth. It was something about the way she said it that made me realize that she wasn't joking. Seeing that I didn't have much of a choice I did as I was told and nearly gagged on the stuff. She was right, it did taste like crap.

"Now not another peep from you. And the next time you decide to throw back a few, you better think twice. I won't always be around to get you back on the straight and narrow. I honestly don't know what it is with men and booze. You guys are like fish when it comes to that stuff, even when you can't drink it…."

Morgan once again began to mutter to herself as she took the mug away and put a patchwork quilt over me. I only half listened as I started to feel the effects of whatever it was that was in that mug. Instead of being stifled by the heavy blanket, I found myself enveloped in a warm cocoon and I was out like a light in minutes.

For the rest of the day Morgan hovered over me, pouring whatever she could get her hands on down my throat. I don't remember any of it. It was Che who told me a few days later. I found it hard to believe that Morgan had refused to budge when Jolly tried to convince her to just let me sleep it off. Like he said, Morgan was one stubborn mule when she wanted to be.

If you ask me, I'd have to say that that day was when it all started. Even though Morgan and I weren't at our personal best towards one another at the beginning that didn't stop her from doing what she did. You can be a hero or a sidekick on paper but the fact of the matter is that doesn't mean it's true. Sure it looks like it technically, but nothing happens until the connection is made. For some teams it's there right off the bat, for others they have to work at it and unfortunately for some, it's never there.

For us, we had to work at it and it took us a couple of years to develop but we did, despite the odds. And it all began on the day I had the worst hangover of my life. Who would have guessed?


End file.
